Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates
by Ra-chan of the Sun
Summary: Sequel to Phoenix Swords and Ex-Pirates (alternate ending), it tells the story of how Gan Ning and Diao Wan's daughter discovers true love, her gift, and that her parents didn't desert her on their own free will. Warning: Has some parody, and some gorey
1. Life is Rough

A/N: YO ALL! Hehe, I know I said it was going to be different . . . but hey . . . I'm brainstorming. So you get the sequel. Happy Birthday!  
  
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Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates  
  
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Chapter 1  
  
It all began when my father killed my mother's adopted father, Tamahori. She sought revenge for seven years before finally getting her chance. But, instead of being the bloodthirsty ex-pirate she thought him to be, she met her true love, my father. His name was Gan Ning, Bandit of the Silken Sails. Why silk you ask? Well, I have no idea really. My mother was Diao Wan, a runaway who turned pirate in her early teens. (Yes, I know this sounds like a sappy romantic story. Trust me, its not. Sun Ce will be happy to clear that up for you any time.) My mother didn't have any special name, just Diao Wan. Captain Diao or Lady Diao if you so liked, but she just had people call her by Wan. Sun Quan says that my parents were some of the most loyal and trusting people he knew. I was young when they left. Around seven I think. Went back to being pirates, some guess. They didn't take me along because, apparently I was a wimpy child and always cried whenever something mildly scary or bad happened.  
  
()() Flashback ()()  
  
"You had to give me a daughter didn't you, Wan?" Father teased Mother.  
  
"That'd be your fault, all I did was carry her for nine months then pushed her out, with a great deal of pain I might add. And, secondly you're the one who always makes sure she has the cleanest diaper in Wu. Daddy's little girl I'd say," Mother responded.  
  
"Point, but hygiene is important."  
  
"True sweetheart, but you forget . . . wasn't it just yesterday you were tying little pink bows in her hair and, I shudder to think, sings to her at night. You honestly need to take voice lessons, sweetheart."  
  
"My singing isn't that bad!"  
  
"Oh yes it is . . ."  
  
()() End Flashback ()()  
  
Don't get me wrong, they loved me dearly. Unfortunately, wherever they went off to they certainly I couldn't come. That was thirteen years ago. I'm now a past full-grown woman of twenty. I serve for Sun Quan as my mother and mainly my father did. Emperor Sun Quan that is for Sun Jian, Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu have all deceased. I had stopped long ago wondering about my parent's disappearance. The only one who knows where they went was Lu Meng, but he won't tell me a thing. Ever since I had turned fifteen I decided to grow up and become someone.  
  
I am Hua Wan, which means: Flowery Grace. Sort of doesn't fit me anymore since I'm the worst tomboy since Sun Shang Xiang. I serve for Wu, and have for all my life. At least until yesterday. An unknown messenger arrived last night. He was gruff looking, but young, and had a huge dragon shaped tattoo on his bare tan back.  
  
"I have a message from the Bandit of the Silken Sails!" he had yelled.  
  
At first people were confused. We had many new young officers that had never heard my father's legend. I, fortunately, was passing the gate at this time, so I went up to greet him. By his outward appearance he seemed to be just a young pirate, but he had the symbol of Wu on the sash around his waist.  
  
"I am Hua Wan, daughter of he who sends you," I called to him.  
  
He had a looked down at me and jumped in surprised.  
  
"Seven hells! 'Tis the spitting image of him! 'Cept being a woman and all . . . ah I see. Them eyes. Those is your mother's," he said with a smile, "along with the attitude. Fire and ice."  
  
"You act as if you know my parents . . . are they alive?" I asked quietly.  
  
"That is a question I shall be answering soon enough," he told me handing me an envelope.  
  
It was small and old. The wax was peeling of the back and it had been folded many a time. I opened it quickly, my mind racing. I took out a letter and had started reading. I soon found out that it had not been a letter. It was my parent's will.  
  
"They died in battle together. Ship caught fire and they didn't make it off in time. I was the only survivor," the messenger told me.  
  
"Where were they? Why did they leave?" I asked confused.  
  
"Didn't Sun Quan say? He was supposed 'ta when you came of age," he told me, "I was close to them, yes VERY close. But anyway, Gan Ning and Diao Wan had go to battle the Nanmans. They led the naval forces."  
  
"You mean to tell me that my parents battled the Nanmans for thirteen years? I don't buy it," I snapped.  
  
"Smart like . . . never mind neither of them had much for brains. Ha! Ha! You didn't let me finish though. They fought other battles too. Pirates Japs, Nanman, and Shu once or twice. You might want to read the rest of that will now."  
  
I continued to read it to myself. My mother's messy handwriting was nearly illegible. Also, some of the ink was smeared and blotted.  
  
'. . . and to Hua Wan we leave the Phoenix Sword and half of our money. The other half we give to Gan Li Wu, our son, along with the Sea Master if he can hold the darn thing up. Our children, if not married by this time or not of age, are in the care of Zhao Yun of Shu . . .'  
  
"Gan Li Wu?! I have a brother?" I asked urgently.  
  
"Oh yeah . . . they mention that in there. What'd he get?" he said.  
  
"Sir, I asked you a question first," I told him threw clenched teeth.  
  
"Yes, rather handsome fellow. Total ladies man, followed in Zhou Yu's legend in good looks . . . okay, the jig is up. Mother told me you were a smart one. I'm Gan Li Wu. Your little brother."  
  
"No way."  
  
"In the flesh."  
  
"But you have to be at least in your late-teens!"  
  
"Nope, I just look old for my age. I'm thirteen believe it or not, and I'm your little brother."  
  
"Wow. Ok so my –I mean our- parents left me behind, had you, and fought in naval ships for thirteen years."  
  
"Yep, but I was sorta an accident. The reason they left you was because Father didn't want you to grow up all bloodthirsty and pirateish They didn't mean for Mom to get pregnant, but that's the way things go. I got Dad's height."  
  
I had laughed, because he certainly did. He was at least a head and shoulders taller than I was, already nearing to surpassing my father. I looked closely and saw that he indeed looked younger than he first appeared. He was gruff looking like I remembered my father being, and he was like a walking tree. Although, he had my mother's reddish dark brown hair that appeared black along with her eyes. We both had mother's eyes.  
  
"So you're my little brother? Wow, you don't look thirteen at all," I said in my shocked amazement.  
  
"Aye, that's what Dad would always say," he said, a sudden look of pain went across his face.  
  
"You must be starving," I said quickly changing the subject, "Do come inside!"  
  
"Oh, yes I am!" he yelled and patted his bare stomach.  
  
I turned and went towards the closest kitchen as he followed me. He had immediately started wolfing down all the food in sight. That's how my life changed completely in one night. I was now on my way to Shu. I was not yet married and Gan Li Wu (Li Wu he liked for short) was not yet of age, therefore we were to be put under the charge of Lord Zhao Yun. According to Li Wu he had been good friends and a fellow officer of our mother before she married our father and joined Wu. We were travelling by horseback and using my mother's old war-horse, Storm Runner, as our pack pony . . . and he wasn't too happy about the change.  
  
"Storm Runner! The point of being the packhorse is too carry the luggage. Not to gallop into battle!" Li Wu was yelling.  
  
"Li Wu, he can't help it. Even at his age he still knows that is what he was trained to do," I told him calmly, "Besides he can't understand you. He doesn't speak Chinese."  
  
"Okay, I'll speak English then!" he said.  
  
"I don't think he speaks English either, Li Wu," I answered back.  
  
"I was being sarcastic, Hua Wan," he snapped.  
  
"I knew that," I covered.  
  
"Right," he teased, "sure you did."  
  
We both laughed. I sorta' enjoyed having a little brother. At least I'd have someone I partially knew when we arrived at Shu. Lord Sun Quan said his little sister, Sun Shang Xiang, was married to the Emperor Liu Bei and they had several children.  
  
((A/N: I know, historically, Shang Xiang and Liu Bei never had kids, but I felt sorry for her.))  
  
Several others said that Zhao Yun was very kind and would be a good guardian towards us, but I was still uncomfortable. Luckily, Lu Xun had come along with us to make sure we got there all right. He rode in front, leading the way.  
  
"When would you like to stop for the night? The Shu capital is still a good four hour ride from here and you two look tired," Lu Xun called over his shoulder.  
  
"I guess now is as good as never," Li Wu answered.  
  
I considered my answer for a minute.  
  
"Lu Xun, stopping now would be death to us all. Isn't this bandit territory? We should keep going if we don't want to be sold as slaves or killed on the spot. If we turned West about 10 degrees over those hills to our left we will make it in three hours instead," I called up.  
  
Lu Xun turned and stopped his horse. He stared at me for several minutes.  
  
"I never thought that I would hear a smart idea, that works, come out of the mouth of the child of Gan Ning and Diao Wan. Loved them like siblings, but they were down right . . . no offense . . . stupid at times," he said completely dumb struck, "Guess it skipped a generation."  
  
"Ok, I heard death and listened to nothing after . . . what are we doing?" Li Wu asked terribly confused.  
  
"We're continuing on to Shu, but turning our direction West a tad," I translated into his small amount of vocabulary.  
  
"Thank you sister," he sighed gratefully.  
  
Lu Xun nudged his horse into a trot and took off in the direction I had pointed out to him. Li Wu followed, as did myself. Li Wu's eyelids drooped and he yawned loudly. Storm Runner snorted and shook his head violently. He stamped and pranced around like an anxious young stallion.  
  
"For as old as that horse is getting, he sure is acting very spirited," Li Wu observed.  
  
I laughed and agreed until the mare I was riding started to get nervous as well. She tossed her head and reared slightly. Then I heard it. A loud pounding of hundreds of sharp hooves, carving into the hard packed earth. It sounded like thunder and everything vibrated around us. The pounding got louder and more numerous as whatever was approaching closed the distance. Suddenly we were surrounded by a group of about five hundred armed soldiers in green. I, never having the opportunity to fight Shu, did not recognize their foreign armor.  
  
"What business does a man, and elf, and a dwarf –I mean a general, a lady, and a boy have in the land of Liu Bei?" called a long dark haired solider as he approached the front.  
  
He was a strong looking man with a faint goatee. His thick long black hair was pulled back into a spiky ponytail. He had a white leopard pelt draped over his turquoise and violet trimmed armor and tied at the waist with a knot. He glared down at us from atop his light gray stallion. I could tell then that he was a very well respected general then, for his eyes were filled with honor, pride, and loyalty, I immediately respected him, but trust him I did not. I didn't know if he was friend or foe, bandit or army man. His scowl went back and forth between the three of us, and he gripped the great spear in which his hand grasped and held it with skill. ((A/N: Yes! Zhao Yun has a goatee! MUHAHAHA!))  
  
"Tell me your business, and maybe I will tell you mine, sir," Li Wu piped up rudely.  
  
"If your head was . . . not so high above the ground I would teach you to respect you elders, young sir," he snapped.  
  
All spears, arrows and swords now pointed directly at Li Wu and I and the strange man dismounted with a defiant jump.  
  
I drew my mother's sword from its sheath and put it to the man's neck in a quick movement.  
  
"You would die before your stroke fell," I snarled.  
  
Lu Xun grabbed my arm and pulled it away. This time his knowledge outreached my quick temper.  
  
"Hua Wan . . ." he warned before continuing, "We are on our way to Shu in seek of Lord Zhao Yun. Diao Wan and Gan Ning have died and left their children to him. This is Lady Hua Wan and Gan Li Wu."  
  
"I am whom you seek," he said.  
  
Zhao Yun motioned for his men to lower their weapons and he looked toward the ground, saddened.  
  
"My sympathy goes out to you, and I apologize –Lu Xun isn't it? -For my rude greeting," he said.  
  
"'Tis understandable. Well I am to guess this is where I leave you Lady Hua and Master Li Wu," said Lu Xun.  
  
"Your not leaving now are you, Lord Xun? At least take a rest," I asked him.  
  
"I know where an inn is not too far from here," he responded before saying his good-byes.  
  
"Farewell."  
  
"See ya, Xun."  
  
The crowd of soldiers parted and let him pass as he trotted off Eastward. I never realized that I was going to miss Wu so much, but then again . . . it was the only life I ever knew. I felt a small tear run down my cheek, and suddenly all hell broke lose. Thoughts ran through my head a mile a minute as tears ran down my face.  
  
"Why me? Why did my parents have to leave me! They had my brother! If they loved me so much why did they agree to leave? Why must I know leave my home and country? I can live on my own, its not like I haven't since I was seven!" I screamed in my head.  
  
"Wan? Are you alright?" Li Wu asked concerned.  
  
Zhao Yun was also looking greatly concerned and he dismounted his horse and walked over to me. He gently helped me dismount and he put his hand on my shoulder reassuringly.  
  
"Come Lady Hua, you'll ride with me. My horse can carry two," he said.  
  
I nodded thankfully and followed orders. It was all I knew how to do anyway. Someone would tell me to do something and I would obey. I never did anything independently. Must be because of my military background. Zhao Yun mounted his horse and helped me up behind him. Then he had one of his men pull-pony my horse and then set off towards Shu. We were all silent as we rode, well most of us anyway. Gan Li Wu just couldn't seem to shut up! He had gotten a comment about his large tiger shaped tattoo on his back from a solider and they were busy exclaiming how much they hurt.  
  
"Like fire pouring into your skin and eating you alive, ain't it?"  
  
"Yeah! And my dad had three times as many! Man you should of seen my mom roll her eyes whenever he bragged about 'um! She'd always just say, 'What are you going to do when you get old, wrinkly, and fat, huh? What will they look like then? They'll look more like raisins than dragons and flames!' Dang the look on her face when Dad told her he let me get one, and such a large one at that, I think she could have strangled him right then and there if her bodyguards hadn't held her back!"  
  
"Reminds me of my own mother! Ha! But my old man didn't have bodyguards to hold her back!"  
  
Everyone roared with laughter as we entered the city limits. Even I started to chuckle. Zhao Yun turned around and smiled at me with a large grin and a wink.  
  
"If you think that's funny, you should have been there when father tried to give me one! Let me tell you, it took more than bodyguards then! She was so steamed! Father said, 'But Wan! It'll be so cool!' and then mother just snarled and spat, 'It might for you, but ever thought about how much one of those might hurt? SHE'S THREE YEARS OLD, GAN NING!'" I said as I laughed.  
  
"HAHAHA! Dad was always doing things like that wasn't he?" Li Wu said.  
  
"Yep, and getting in worse trouble than a pirate on a navy ship!" Zhao Yun said, "Knew those two well, and you too when you was just a whelp, Hua Wan. Couldn't tell who was the child, Ning or you!"  
  
More laughter filled the group and we came to the palace gates.  
  
((Gan Li Wu's POV, several weeks later))  
  
It had been about three weeks and a half since we arrived and neither Hua Wan nor me had any trouble socializing. Sun Shang Xiang was as social and outgoing as her brothers were, so said by my sister. Zhao Yun had introduced us to many generals my parents had talked about, including Jiang Wei. Boy, him and Yun made a pair, they told so many stories about pranking my mother it would have made my Dad beam with pride. He always would do little pranks to annoy her. Today Yun was going to take my sister and me to meet Ma Chao, because old Storm Runner was limping in his hind right leg. Ma Chao was supposed to be an expert with equine. I was in my small bedroom in my mother's old chambers. Nobody had needed them over the past years and they were still in use. My sister had the main bedroom and I was staying in the adjoining guestroom. There was a soft knock on my door.  
  
"Li Wu? May I come in?" said the voice of my sister.  
  
"Aye," I responded and stood up from the chair I had been sitting in.  
  
As she came in I know something was up. Her eyes darted around the room cautiously and she fumbled her thumbs together conspicuously. Her face held a worried and haunting sort of look.  
  
"Wan, you ok?" I asked.  
  
"Depends on your definition of alright. A couple showed up about an hour ago and they claim to be our parents . . . but I haven't seen them in so long I wouldn't know if it were them or not. Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei are questioning them . . . they are asking for you," she mumbled quietly.  
  
My heart skipped a beat. It was impossible. I saw the ship burn up and I waited two days for any signs of survivors. It was impossible to look for them because of the high volume of Nanman archers in the area. It would have been suicide and my Dad taught me better than that.  
  
"Its not them, Sis. Don't get your hopes up," I answered back and settled into my chair again.  
  
"Brother . . . don't you have the faintest ray of hope? I heard Liu Bei say it looked just like them."  
  
"Even a wolf can wear a sheep's skin."  
  
"True . . . but I can't help but feel it might be them."  
  
"Well don't it ain't them!"  
  
"Sorry for having a positive look on things! What did our parents teach you? I'm older, you don't talk to me that way!"  
  
"Just drop it, Wan!"  
  
I stood up and glared at her. She looked so young and innocent then, I almost forgot she was my older sister and not a young girl. Key word . . . almost.  
  
"You weren't there! In a matter of minutes I lost the only family I had known! You might have gotten the time to grow to the fact they weren't coming back, but I didn't! I didn't! You had thirteen years to get used to them being gone. I've had 4 months!" I screamed in frustration.  
  
"Yes . . . you had that privilege. I didn't," she snapped and stormed out.  
  
She slammed the door and I heard her stomp into the next room. I sighed, I knew I had to go after her. 'Maybe it is them?' I thought, 'No . . . it's totally impossible. But what's wrong with just taking a look, ya?' I got up and went out the same way Hua Wan did. I came up to her and grabbed her by the arm.  
  
"What in the seven hells are you doing?" she snapped.  
  
"We're going to see if it really is Mom and Dad," I snapped back still dragging her along, "Where are they?"  
  
"In the small room exactly halfway between the downstairs stair and the south barracks," she said.  
  
I headed that direction and let go of her arm so she could walk by herself. We passed Lady Shang Xiang in the hall, she apparently was headed the same direction.  
  
"I'm guessing your going to see the couple claiming to be your parents?" she asked with a stern serious look on her face.  
  
"Aye," my sister answered, "I think we have a right to have the first say."  
  
"Yes, you do and I'm furious with Zhao Yun for not letting you," Lady Shang Xiang said.  
  
"Not letting us?" I asked.  
  
"Correct. He says you might overreact and kill them in rage or something," she said.  
  
"I'd think we would have a right to that even if we did, which we wouldn't . . . I hope," Hua Wan said.  
  
"Also correct. When we get there you have right to your own actions and if Yun tries to hold you back, I'll take care of it," Lady Shang Xiang said reassuringly.  
  
"Thank you, your ladyship," Hua Wan answered politely.  
  
"Your welcome!" she answered with a smile.  
  
We went down the south hall and came halfway. You could hear people talking inside and I heard two very familiar voices. My heart once again skipped a beat and I burst open the door in my rush to see the faces of the voices. There, standing together once again, were my parents. Gan Ning and Diao Wan lived again. They were alive.  
  
((End Chapter, to be continued)) 


	2. Return of the Bells

((A/N: Hehe, bet you guess just love me for leaving a cliffhanger like that, eh? Sorry my Internet has been down and Final Fantasy X and X-2 is addicting, but that's a good thing for you because I got a head start on this chapter! And its Spring Break so I have all the time in the world! ( I just love it when we stay home during S.B.!) Also, tell me your feelings on this chapter. I'm experimenting with POV's and there will be lots of switching. If it gets confusing tell me and I'll go back and revise. Ok, so on with this because I'm about to get clobbered by an angry mob.  
  
Angry Mob: THERE SHE IS! THE ONE WHO LEFT THAT HORRIBLE CLIFFHANGER! GET HER!  
  
Ra-chan: Gotta run! * Runs like the dickens to Gan Ning and jumps up into his arms* SAVE ME!  
  
Gan Ning: * puts Ra-chan to the side and picks up his Sea Master * NO ONE HURTS RA-CHAN WHILE I'M ALIVE!  
  
Ra-chan: My hero! * Stars glow in eyes *  
  
* Shamoke comes and kills Gan Ning *  
  
Ra-chan: Oh dear . . . * gets attacked by the mob *  
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Chapter 2: Return of the Bells  
  
@@@@@@@@  
  
((Last Time))  
  
My heart once again skipped a beat and I burst open the door in my rush to see the faces of the voices. There, standing together once again, were my parents. Gan Ning and Diao Wan lived again. They were alive.  
  
@@@@@@@@  
  
((Present, Hua Wan's POV))  
  
Li Wu just stood there, shock and happiness covering his entire face. He rushed into the room.  
  
"Mom!" he exclaimed.  
  
"Oh! My baby! Li Wu!" said a woman's voice . . . that seemed vaguely familiar.  
  
"Wan, he ain't a baby! He's a man! Can't 'ya see?" said a gruff voice.  
  
"You just shut yer' trap and let me hug my son, Ning!" the woman's voice snapped.  
  
Shang Xiang and I looked at each other and smiled. It was them all right, no one but them could fight with each other with such love in every tone. Shang Xiang started for the door to enter . . . but I hesitated. 'What would they think of me?' I thought, 'Will I be accepted? Do they even remember me?' Shang Xiang saw my hesitation and pulled me by the arm.  
  
"Don't sweat it! In one moment you'll wish you could escape that head-lock-hug of your Dad's!" she said with a laugh.  
  
Unfortunately, I didn't feel the least bit relieved and I found myself unnaturally self-conscious. We entered the small room to see Jiang Wei and Zhao Yun reclining in two chairs to the left. A woman was smothering Li Wu, obviously my mother now, in the back right corner. Her hair was longer and pulled up into a bun. Her age was beginning to show, for she wasn't as skinny or as lanky as she used to be. Gan Ning stood next to them, and pried Li Wu away from Diao Wan. He took him into a huge hug that looked like it broke poor Li Wu's back.  
  
"Nice to see you too, Dad," said Li Wu, obviously short of breath.  
  
My father still looked the same as normal, except he actually wore a full shirt for once. ((A/N: I know, I know, but I had to make him seem older. Lol!)) Both of their clothes were plain and dirty, with the occasional black spot here and there. The obvious signs of them being near a fire. I wanted Shang Xiang to let me go and just let me sneak back and not be noticed, praying that they didn't recognize me. But luck was not with me then, for my brother, the idiot, went and opened his big mouth.  
  
"Hua Wan! Give yer' brother a hand and free me from this!" he yelled out.  
  
At the mention of my name my parents stopped immediately and looked over at me. Li Wu was freed of my father as he dropped him to the ground. Li Wu gave a sigh, but otherwise you could of heard a pin drop. I saw a tear run down my mother's cheek as she suddenly started crying. She ran forward and held me in her embrace.  
  
"Ah! I'm such a horrible mother! How could I leave my beautiful daughter!" she sobbed as she looked me straight in the eyes, "Oh my! You got the looks I never got didn't you? Heh, unfortunately you got your father's hair."  
  
"I resent that remark! It's not unfortunate at all, everyone knows I have the better hair! Now move aside woman! I want to see my little girl too!" my father said laughing as he came over as well and held me.  
  
Everything came flooding back now. I had pushed my parents out of my memory so long I had basically forgot about them, but now my memory came back fully. Memories of my childhood came racing back. I couldn't believe I was finally back with my family, my entire family. I laughed and hugged both my parents back. We stood there, crying and laughing. Li Wu also came over and joined. Zhao Yun, Jiang Wei, and Shang Xiang left quietly out of respect. Wow, I sure have missed them.  
  
((Next Day, Diao Wan's POV))  
  
I awoke in the morning around nine and sat up on my elbow. Gan Ning was sleeping soundly beside me on his back, his right arm around my waist. I had awaked in the same way for almost thirty years now, except for one fact. I had no remorse now for leaving Hua Wan behind. She had said she forgave us, and that it might of well as been better for her because she appreciated us a lot more than she would of if she had known us her entire life. I laughed and laid back down on my back. Gan Ning stirred slightly with my movement but stayed asleep. Hua Wan and Gan Li Wu were rooms next to us, and we were in my old room. Old memories came back as I lay there, like the time Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei came into my room early in the morning and scared me half to death when I turned to see them in the same spot Ning was at. I smiled, and turned to look at him. He had gotten a lot older looking these past years. His facial features were wiser looking and his hair actually had some white in it now. I kissed his cheek gently and stroked his chin with my hand.  
  
"Wan, its too early to wake up ya know?" he whispered.  
  
"It's nine in the morning," I told him.  
  
"Exactly my point. Can't a guy sleep in for once?" he asked.  
  
"Oh ok, I'll give you till noon, but I'm not sure everyone else will give you your joyous moment of rest," I said.  
  
"I'm getting old and cranky, they'll have to wait," he said with a laugh.  
  
"Ok, I'll tell them to bug you later with the story of our great escape," I said.  
  
"You will now? But who said you were leaving," he said as he kissed me on the lips.  
  
"I did," I laughed and got up.  
  
He laughed before he fell back asleep and his breathing became heavy and loud. I tiptoed out quietly into Hua Wan's room. She was dressed and getting ready to leave. She smiled as I entered.  
  
"Good morning, mother," she said with a smile.  
  
"Good morning, dear. Leaving are we? I don't think so!" I said.  
  
"Why not?" she asked.  
  
"Because I want to talk! So, tell me . . . any boys?" I asked excitedly as we sat in two chairs by the window.  
  
"Boys? No . . ." she said confused.  
  
"No boys? Come on! Not even a crush?"  
  
"Mother! Stop fishing!"  
  
"It's what mother's do, so spit it out!"  
  
"Well . . . the only men I have met have been Zhao Yun's age . . . and I'm not really interested in them. I haven't really paid much attention to the boys/men at Wu, either."  
  
"You have to be kidding me? When I was your age . . . wait . . . I was already married. But! When I was a girl of around fifteen I was crushing on every single man that was in his twenty's or teen's, had a build, and was descent enough looking on the ships I worked on. But they never even gave me a second glance. Don't blame them really."  
  
"Why not, mother?"  
  
"Well, to avoid trouble, and so I could actually get on some pirate ships, I made it seem like I was a boy."  
  
"That would explain it."  
  
"Yes it certainly would. But I only had to do that on some ships, most took me without hesitation."  
  
"I thought being a woman on a ship was bad luck though."  
  
"It is, but have you ever tasted the cooking on some of those ships? Plus, if they didn't take me on I threatened to hurt them in cruel and unnatural ways."  
  
"Weren't you just the kindest soul . . ."  
  
"I'm just kidding! It was because I could wield a sword and Tamahori taught me. Some of the ship captains had a respect for him so they figured that countered the bad luck of me being a woman. As for trouble with male hormones, I made sure that wouldn't be a problem."  
  
"You gave them the cold shoulder?"  
  
"No, that's where I threatened to do cruel and unnatural things to them."  
  
We both giggled hysterically and I gave Hua Wan a teasing wink. We both regained our breath and heaved a big sigh.  
  
"I'm guessing you weren't the favorite person on the ship were you mother?" Hua Wan asked me.  
  
"Hehe, actually I was liked a rather good deal by my ship mates. I only threatened them if they tried to make a move. So how bout you?"  
  
"I never was put into battle, so I never had to deal with the troops. I stayed around Da Qiao, her daughter, and Lu Xun. I find strategy to be more of my strength."  
  
"I knew you didn't take after your father all the way! Smart like me, eh?"  
  
"Mother your lying through your very teeth."  
  
"Ok you caught me. Who knows, it could have been one of things that skips a generation."  
  
"While we're confessing, I did have this one crush . . ."  
  
My ears perked up after that! I laughed and we talked for a long time about mother daughter stuff. I was feeling like I was finally getting to re-know my daughter. It was around eleven when I heard Gan Ning finally get up.  
  
"Sounds like your Father finally decided to rejoin the living," I said with a wink.  
  
"Yes, and Li Wu is still in the realm of sleeping-soundly-till-well- in-the-evening!" Hua Wan laughed.  
  
Gan Ning opened the door and entered. He reached upward and stretched.  
  
"Good afternoon, ladies," he called.  
  
"Good afternoon, Father!"  
  
"Ning, your gray is showing."  
  
His eyes immediately went wide as his hand connected to his head and frantically started rummaging through his hair looking for a gray strand. Hua Wan and I started laughing and he suddenly stopped.  
  
"I love you too, Diao Wan," he said.  
  
"Had 'ta do it to ya', love" I said with a laugh, "Now I think I need to go eat something before I starve. Oh! Ning, go see if your son is up yet will you? He needs to wake up already."  
  
"Yes, dear," Xingba said before leaving the room, "See 'ya, Hua Wan."  
  
"Goodbye, Father," Hua Wan said politely.  
  
Gan Ning smiled and left to go wake up Li Wu. I smiled after him and got up myself.  
  
"Well, its about time I went out and faced the music," I said.  
  
"What do you mean, Mother," Hua Wan asked confused.  
  
"Oh! You know Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei! They'll want to know every single detail of our trip and how we escaped from the ship while it was burning. Sheesh! Those two should get their own comedy act," I said laughing.  
  
"That is true!" she said with a nod.  
  
I walked out and went on my way to find some food and those two friends of mine.  
  
((Hua Wan's POV, bout lunch time))  
  
I was sitting on the wall of the palace grounds and munching on a fruit. Now I understood what family reunions were like, you just want to get away sometimes. I laughed to myself and indulged in some people watching. One thing I had learned was that not many people liked those in other social classes. For example, a peasant would never talk to a middle or royal class, but they would respect them . . . only because it was a life or death, freedom or slavery kind of relationship. Also, the middle and the upper, or royal, classes would look down apon the peasants in the lower class -so on so forth. Luckily my mother and father grew up in the lower class so they didn't resent them (I think so at least), but if you were like that of royal blood, such as a prince, you would resent the lower class with passion. The middle class wasn't as prejudice though. They were mainly neutral. Anyway, I was mainly just staring off into space, until this one particular peasant sitting just a few yards off caught my eye. He was sitting not too far off, taking a lunch break from the building job he had been doing. He was rather handsome, too. His face was strong and had high cheekbones, like that of my father. His skin was deeply tanned from all the hours he must have spent outdoors working. He had a dark complexion with his deep brown eyes, which were slightly overlarge. He wore a plain peasant outfit of trousers and a three-quarter- length-sleeve shirt that covered his . . . well . . . VERY nice built body (he did do construction after all). I must have stared at him too long, for he noticed my gaze and looked up. Then I made the mistake of looking away very quickly and turning to look somewhere else. 'Nice, Hua Wan, ingenious," I said to myself. I just prayed he would forget about it and not think anything bad of me . . . but Lady Luck was definitely not with me today. I heard him call several of his friends over from where they also sat eating lunch and they whispered for a few minutes. My worry started to go away slowly as I heard them stop whispering. I, feeling relieved and more confident now, jumped down from the wall into the village. I started to wander off and take a little walk around the village market before returning to the palace when I heard them come up behind me. Someone grabbed my shoulder and pinned me against the wall. I was then surrounded by several of the men that the first one had been talking too.  
  
"So, girl! What were you doing looking at Taro here, eh?" one of them shouted.  
  
I was stricken silent with the shock at first of being treated in such a way. I had been to the village many times with Zhao Yun and I was never treated like this. Every one had bowed and been extremely respectful. That's when I noticed, I had on my plainer clothes instead of my nicer outfits. 'They must think I'm just a peasant girl!' I thought.  
  
"Answer me!" he shouted again.  
  
"Do you know who I am," I screamed in his face.  
  
"Yes, your some peasant girl who thinks she can get away with bugging a man of higher class like Taro," one said.  
  
"Agreed, and one who thinks she actually belongs in the palace! You do know it's against the rules to sit up there don't you?" the one called Taro snapped.  
  
These men were insane! Did they not know whose daughter I was? This was not going to be pretty. I was scared and unarmed at the moment, all I had was my fists and these men outnumbered me and were much stronger. Suddenly I heard a kind voice below out in my defense.  
  
"Hey! Let her go! What are you to beat on those who cannot defend for themselves?" yelled the voice of a man from behind the mob.  
  
"And what are you for butting in on someone else's business?" yelled several of the men pinning me.  
  
This was my chance, I could get them by surprise with their attention now turned toward the street. Good thing Father taught me a thing or two about the pirate way of fighting. I looked around for a good escape route and I found it. The men were positioned in such a way that if I knocked the one in front of me over, all of them would fall easily. I pushed myself off the wall with my legs and rammed my shoulder into the middle of the man's back. He fell hard against the one in front and grabbed the others next to him down with a grab of their wrists. The rest proceeded in the same order, making a Domino kind of effect.  
  
"Defenseless am I?" I asked the man who had called out and basically saved my life.  
  
"No, I guess not . . ." he said trailing off.  
  
My breath caught short at the sight of him though. He was lanky and tall, and not as built and buff as Taro, but he was handsome in the face. I looked up into his blue eyes that were half covered by his long black hair. He looked almost as dumbstruck as I was his mouth hanging halfway open and his blue eyes wide with surprise.  
  
"My name is Hua Wan . . ." I said, "Thank you for sticking up for me. I couldn't have pulled that off without a diversion."  
  
"Names Zhou Lin, and don't worry 'bout it. My older sister always said I had a bigger mouth than I did a brain," he said.  
  
I laughed at his joke and smiled. My stomach fluttered and suddenly felt woozy. 'Was it the fruit I ate?' I thought, 'Oh no . . . my mother's wish has come true. I have a crush.' He looked down at me and gave me a reassuring wink.  
  
"So where do you live? I'll walk you home," Zhou Lin said.  
  
"Oh, don't worry. I live right over there," I said pointing over the wall.  
  
"Um . . . Hua Wan . . . you do know that is the royal palace?" he said rather confused.  
  
"Aye," I said.  
  
He raised an eyebrow at me and looked extremely confused. That's when I felt someone tap my shoulder. Without thinking I quickly turned around and slugged the person behind me in the stomach . . . only too find out it was Father.  
  
"Ahh! Hua Wan, don't hit 'yer old man like that. I got you trained too well!" he yelled as he fell to his right knee in pain.  
  
"Sorry, Father!" I yelled surprised.  
  
He got up and held his stomach a bit as he forced a smile.  
  
"No worries, Hua Wan. Gan Ning don't get that old that quick. Your mother has been looking for you and she's 'bout 'ta wring my neck 'fer it. Thinks I lost 'ya, but I'll show that woman otherwise now," he said.  
  
"Father . . . if you didn't know where I was, you did lose me. For when you lose something that means you don't know where it is. You didn't know where I was, so you lost me," I corrected him.  
  
"Yes, but your mother don't know that yet, so let's go!" he said pulling me over toward the gate into the palace grounds.  
  
I rolled my eyes and was about to walk back with him when I remembered Zhou Lin. I stopped suddenly and turned around to say goodbye and thank him again . . . but he was no where to be seen. He had disappeared, and my heart lurched in sadness. I looked around frantically for him, but he was no where to be seen.  
  
"Y-y-y-our really G-g-gan Ning?" I heard someone say.  
  
I turned around and saw that the men who had attacked me earlier had finally gotten to their feet and were gawking over my dad. Then a certain idea came to my head and I decided that Zhou Lin could wait for one moment.  
  
"Yes, the one and only. What can I do fer 'ya boys?" he asked.  
  
"Can we see your sword?"  
  
"Didn't you die?"  
  
"Is Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao really as beautiful as it is rumored?"  
  
"Well, its simple: First, no one touches my sword; Second, no one can kill Gan Ning boys! ; Third, I'm married I can't say so or my wife will kill me and their married their husbands will kill me," Father answered.  
  
"Um . . . Father, I'd like to introduce the men who mistook me for a peasant girl and tried to beat the living snot out of me," I said with a casual smile.  
  
The look on my father's face went to a simple smile, to extreme and utter rage. Ah, the sweet smell of revenge! I smiled and walked away towards the gate, ignoring the sounds of pain being inflicted apon the bodies of the men by my father and his uber big sword. I was about to open the gate to go in when I spotted Zhou Lin behind a tree beckoning me over. Suddenly curious, I walked over.  
  
"Can you meet me here same time tomorrow?" he asked looking hopeful.  
  
"Yes! But what if someone who doesn't . . ." I trailed off.  
  
". . . Like to see a lower class peasant talking to the daughter of one of the most respected generals in Shu and Wu, besides Zhao Yun of course," Zhou Lin finished for me.  
  
I nodded. I smiled reassuringly.  
  
"You're also the daughter of a pirate. They're rebels right?" he said.  
  
I laughed, "Aye. I'll be here."  
  
"Good! . . .you're a very beautiful girl Hua Wan," he said before disappearing off into the many shadows of the setting sun.  
  
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A/N: Hey, hope you like actually having two chapters put up at the same time. Internet is still down and I'm still on Spring Break, tons of time to write! Hope you liked it! See no cliffhangers this time . . . well bad ones anyway.  
  
P.S.: Happy Easter! 


	3. It Starts

A/N: I know, I know, my net is still down and I'm home sick with a high temp. (Excuse the lack of my creative skills that may be caused by this situation) So . . . yeah . . . nothings happened . . . ok I'm going to shut up now. Oh wait! Before I forget I would just like to make a note: Hua Wan was given her mother's sword, but she already had one of her own of course. So she has two basically. Just so you don't get confused.  
  
Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates  
  
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Chapter Two: It Starts  
  
$$$$$$$  
  
Last Time:  
  
"Can you meet me here same time tomorrow?" he asked looking hopeful.  
  
"Yes! But what if someone who doesn't . . ." I trailed off.  
  
. . . . .  
  
I laughed, "Aye. I'll be here."  
  
"Good! . . .you're a very beautiful girl Hua Wan," he said before disappearing off into the many shadows of the setting sun.  
  
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$  
  
((Gan Ning's POV, evening [yes, he's back everyone, you may applaud]))  
  
"Grr . . . no one hurts Gan Ning's little girl!" I yelled.  
  
I was now back in Diao's and my bedroom, and ranting as I paced the floor. Hua Wan was in her room talking to her brother, and Wan was in here listening to my ranting and raving.  
  
"Honey, if you don't calm down your going to pop a vein," she said.  
  
I looked over at her. She was sitting on the edge of our bed and looking at me in that if-you-don't-chill-out-I'm-going-to-make-you-chill- out look. I sighed, there was no more of her listening to me rave anymore.  
  
"Ok, you win. BUT! You would have pounded the living-"  
  
"Ning, our children are in the next room."  
  
"I KNOW, WAN! I mean, I know. Sorry. But you would have pounded the living snot –there that better than what I was going to say?- out of them too if you had been there. The slimy little-!" I bellowed.  
  
"Ning . . . don't even think about it. Yes, much better, and yes I would have too. BUT she can handle herself and from what I heard, she did. So chill out honey and relax," she said.  
  
She patted the spot next to her on the bed, beckoning me over. I smiled and came over and sat down. I laid back and stared at the ceiling.  
  
"Wan, am I a good father?" I asked.  
  
"My answer is the same as the other 599,999 times you've asked me that question. Yes!" she said.  
  
"Am I a good husband?" I asked again.  
  
"Heck ya! . . . don't tell me this is one of your ask-my-wife-twenty- questions-that-I've-already-asked-before rants?" she asked me.  
  
"Unfortunately for you, yes it is."  
  
"Oh Lord have mercy on my old and tired soul."  
  
"Wan!"  
  
"Xingba!"  
  
"Yes, my honeysuckle of happiness?"  
  
"STOP IT!"  
  
"Do I have to?"  
  
"Yes, you have no choice."  
  
"I LOVE this woman!"  
  
She laughed and hit my arm playfully. I loved it when she smiled. She used to be so unhappy and lonely, and now smiling was all she ever did. I sat up and kissed her, but my lack of gracefulness made us hit noses instead.  
  
"Twenty-four years, and you still can't get it right?" she teased.  
  
"Hey, twenty-four ain't that long!" I pleaded.  
  
"That is the lamest excuse I have ever heard out of you yet, Gan Ning," Jiang Wei said as he entered, "Well, anyway! If you 'newlyweds' want to break apart for a moment there is an event going on that you don't want to miss."  
  
"And what is that, Wei?" Diao Wan asked laughing.  
  
"Well it's a long story, but to make it short: Zhao Yun was talking to Yue Ying. Zhuge Liang mistakes him for flirting, and gets enraged. Zhao Yun gets into a 'yo mama' fight with Zhuge Liang, and its an all out war," Jiang Wei said.  
  
"What in the seven hells is a 'yo mama' fight?" I asked curiously.  
  
"I have no idea, but it sounds cool. SO LET'S GO PEOPLE!" he yelled.  
  
"Ok, cool with me!" Wan said and ran out.  
  
"Same here!" I said, wanting some fun.  
  
So the three of us ran to go find them before all the good stuff was over at top speed.  
  
((With Hua Wan and Gan Li Wu, Hua Wan's POV again))  
  
"So Dad gave them the 'ol one-two-kick-you-till-your-dead?" Li Wu asked.  
  
"Nah, more like (in a nutshell) the ol' one-two-kick-you-airborne- into-the-palace-wall," I said before bursting out with laughter.  
  
I had arrived home, dragging in my cursing, yelling, ranting, enraged, disgusted, and steamed Father. He was one unhappy camper. Li Wu and I had immediately run off into my room to leave my father's temper to Mom. If anyone could calm him down, she could. I had just finished telling all that I was willing to tell about this afternoon, for Li Wu was one of those persons who didn't like the lower class people. Yes, he grew up with Mom and Dad's army, but their army was men of middle class or higher. He had just assumed that people of a lower class than he, were in fact, 'dirty'. Unclean to be in his presence, for he, being the only son of the famous Gan Ning of the Silken Sails, was of higher standards and was 'clean'. So, I dared not say anything more about Zhou Lin than how he distracted everyone for me so I could get free.  
  
"That must be one heck of a big nutshell, sister," he said.  
  
"Aye, but who cares?" I asked.  
  
"No one. So want 'ta go see if Dad has killed anyone in his rage of terror?" Li Wu asked.  
  
"Sure, sounds fun!" I said.  
  
And so we went off to find our parents, and when we did . . . we discovered more than just our father's temper. Before our eyes was the WEIRDEST, most defiantly ODD, and the STRANGEST fight I have ever had the chance to lay eyes apon. Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun were engaged in a fight that, 'in a nutshell', made no sense. And I'm supposed to be a prodigy according to Lu Xun.  
  
"Well, yo' mama so fat she put Meng Huo to SHAME!" Zhao Yun yelled.  
  
"Tsk! Yo' mama is so obese they had to give her the table to sit on instead of the chair!" Zhuge Liang shouted back.  
  
"Well yo' mama so fat they had to close down the Country Buffet and took out the all-you-can-eat menu," Zhao Yun bellowed.  
  
"Well yo' mama so UGLY she makes Dong Zhuo look like Diao Chan's twin sister," Zhuge Liang snapped.  
  
A gasp emerged from the crowd of silent listeners.  
  
"Y- yo- you went too far that time," Zhao Yun whimpered.  
  
"I'm sorry, Yun," Zhuge Liang said.  
  
"I forgive you . . ." Zhao Yun murmured.  
  
Zhuge Liang approached Zhao Yun and patted him on the back. Zhao Yun sniffed in sadness.  
  
"Your mother isn't that bad looking, Yun," Zhuge Liang reassured.  
  
"That bad looking? You saying she still looks bad?" Zhao Yun yelled.  
  
"Umm . . ." stammered Zhuge Liang.  
  
I rolled my eyes. This was pathetic . . . beyond all reason in the world, but it was down right hilarious. So I kept watching.  
  
"Well? What do you have to say for your self," Zhao Yun snarled.  
  
"I'm sorry Yun-Yun," Zhuge Liang stammered.  
  
I had to raise an eyebrow at this. Yun-Yun? Okay, that was a little freaky and sad at the same time. Some people need some therapy . . . lots of therapy. Getting bored of the fight I decided to go and get some rest for tomorrow. I really couldn't wait to see Zhou Lin again. I sighed and started to walk back to mother's rooms, until I spotted my mother and father whispering to the side. I knew I shouldn't, but I did it anyway. I went as close to them as possible without them spotting me, but I could at least hear what they were whispering about.  
  
"But Xingba . . . would it be fair to move them this quickly, and without sending word to Sun Quan," Mother whispered.  
  
"It's for the best. The sooner we get out of Shu the better. They're not on the best terms with Wu, they never have. Even after you and I, along with Liu Bei and Shang Xiang, got married. They don't want me here, isn't it obvious," Father said.  
  
"No that's you being the paranoid pirate you are, but I do agree they never have been on good terms with Wu. We should leave here as soon as possible and return to our home in Wu," Mother responded.  
  
"Aye, my love . . . but do you think that Hua Wan will be upset at moving again so quickly?" asked Father.  
  
"No, I don't think she would. She'd probably be happy to go back to Wu," Mother said.  
  
"Aye, love. Your probably right," Father said.  
  
Oh no! This was bad! I wouldn't mind going back to Wu usually, but what about meeting Zhou Lin? Hmm . . . guess it all depended on when we were leaving. I did hope that it wasn't anytime soon. I wanted to listen in more, but they started walking away. So I decided I'd go and get some sleep. Maybe I could recognize Zhou Lin in the market and meet up with him early. I wondered down the hall into Mother's rooms and went into the small adjoining bedroom I slept in. I went behind the dressing screen and undressed. I picked up my sleeping robe and pulled it over my head. Then, I slowly went and crawled into my bed, pulling the blankets around me tightly. I would never of told anyone this, but I had always longed for someone to love, and for them to love me. I wanted what my mother had, a true love. One that would always love her, and one that would do anything for her. Mother said she could never believe that she could ever have hated my father. I lay there and stared at the side of the wall until my eyes could no longer stay open, and I gradually fell asleep.  
  
((Morning))  
  
I awoke to the sound of yelling, as I bolted up, awoken by a loud slam. Frightened, I acted on impulse and grabbed my sword and leaped out of bed and into Mother and Father's bedroom.  
  
"What happened?" I yelled.  
  
Mother was sitting on a chair close to the windows, scowling and staring at my brother's room. Father on the other hand was standing in front of his door, yelling like a madman.  
  
"LI WU! I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT! BUT DID YOU LISTEN? NO! YOU DIDN'T! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DISAPOINTED AND ANGRY I AM RIGHT NOW, BOY?" Father was bellowing.  
  
Li Wu's door opened with a whoosh and he was clearly just as mad as both of my parents were.  
  
"WHO CARES! I DIDN'T HURT ANYONE!" he said and slammed the door, letting me locate the noise that had awakened me.  
  
I walked over to mother and pointed at Li Wu and Father's direction.  
  
"What happened?" I asked.  
  
"He set off firecrackers in the hallway," she replied.  
  
"Oh . . ." I said, trying to muffle a laugh.  
  
((Even later, sorry trying to keep this the page limit))  
  
I sat on the wall outside the palace grounds again today. I was anxiously looking for Zhou Lin, and was dressed today in more royal looking clothes, as not to get in the same situation as last time I ventured out here. I looked all over, but he was no where to be seen. So I stood up and looked farther away. Still no Zhou Lin, so I decided to hop down and go into the market, maybe someone there would recognize his name and direct me too him if I did not see him himself. I walked towards the market and walked around, trying to avoid the market venders who would do anything to have you buy something, which was particularly hard because they knew I had money. So I kept repeating a sentence my father had always told me for cases such as this: "If the enemy is crazy, act crazier. It confuses them." It didn't help the situation, but it did give my mind something else to think of. I walked my way through the main street, looking around for him everywhere, but he was nowhere to be seen. I then decided it might be best to ask someone if they knew him, so I turned to the little old lady next to me trying to get me to buy some of the food she sold.  
  
"Well, I'm not really hungry, just had lunch, but could you tell me if you know anyone by the name of Zhou?" I asked politely.  
  
"Zhou? Well, you don't get many families by that name in these parts, mainly in Wu, but I do think there might be a family near here," she said, "Here, ask my son-in-law, Han Qi Lan."  
  
She pointed to a young man at her stand, which was cooking up some fried rice. So I walked over and he turned to me as I approached.  
  
"Yes, would you like something?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing food-wise, but your mother-in-law said you could help me," I said.  
  
"Well then ask away," he said.  
  
"I was wondering if you know anyone by the name of Zhou, mainly a Zhou Lin?" I asked.  
  
"Hmm . . . name is familiar, but I can't seem to recall anyone or any face. Oh yes! The stable boy, over at the horse rentals, name is Zhou! I don't know if his name is Zhou Lin, but I do he's from a Zhou family," he said.  
  
"Thank you so much, sir!" I said before running off to find the stable.  
  
I ran up to the stable and walked inside. I stopped for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dark. I looked around for any sign of life that wasn't equine. I then saw a dark hair head from behind a horse's flank. I walked over to the horse's stall and peered in, and sure enough there he was.  
  
"Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice, but you have a piece of straw in your hair," I said.  
  
He looked up at me in surprise, but his face made a smile as he saw me. He was kneeling and tending the horse's hoof. He stood up and came around towards me.  
  
"Well long time no see," he said removing the piece of straw.  
  
I smiled up at him. He has such handsome eyes.  
  
"Come all this way to find me, eh? How did you anyway?" Zhou Lin asked.  
  
"I asked an old lady's son-in-law in the market. Said he had remembered someone by the name of Zhou working here," I said.  
  
"Well, he was correct," he said.  
  
"Good thing too. Hope you don't mind me coming early, I mean, you did kinda tell me to meet you tonight," I said timidly.  
  
"Not at all. Glad you did, but I do have work to do," he said.  
  
"I'll help you then," I said, "It'll go faster."  
  
"I'd like that," he said.  
  
So we talked and did some work at the same time. We groomed several horses and mucked out a couple stalls. I felt like I really had connected with him, and felt myself getting ever fond of him.  
  
"Well, I have two younger sisters and my parents run their own little business down by the docks. They repair boats, nothing special." He was saying.  
  
"Well, according to my father, anything to do with boats or anything with water at that, is too be extremely cherished," I said.  
  
"Oh that right! Wasn't your father a famous pirate in his past?" he asked.  
  
"Aye! Gan Ning of the Bells, or Bandit of the Silken Sails," I answered.  
  
"Haha, and you go his pirate-ish accent too," he teased.  
  
We both laughed. It was true. I was sitting on the stall door of a frisky little mare that was about two months with foal. She poked her head around and shoved it into my shoulder, begging for a pet. I smiled and petted her cheek.  
  
"You silly little girl! Two months and your still ornery!" I said to the little mare.  
  
"Yes, nothing dampens that one's spirit. She's the same little spirited filly who almost took out two men when we caught her wondering stray on the outskirts of town," he said.  
  
"Two men? How in the world . . .?" I asked.  
  
"She reared up and came down on top of them and wouldn't get up off of them either," he said, "So we don't ride her much. The owner of the stable said she had some good blood in her and her spirit would come in handy in breeding, so he just has us use her as a brood mare."  
  
"Who's the owner?" I asked.  
  
"Dunno, never seen him. He lives up at the palace . . . name of Chao I think," he said.  
  
"Lu Chao?" I asked.  
  
"No, something else. Darn, can't think of it. He's supposed to be an excellent horseman," he said.  
  
"Ma Chao! I know him! Excellent indeed! He's helping my mother's old war horse, Storm Runner," I said.  
  
"No kidding?" Lin asked in amazement.  
  
"Nope, I know lots of people in the Shu and Wu palaces," I said.  
  
"Like who?" he asked in curiosity.  
  
"Um . . . Lady Sun, both Lady Qiao's, Lord Liang, His majesty Sun Quan (who practically raised me), Lord Xun, Lord Chao, Lord Zhao, Lord Jiang, and much more," I said.  
  
I swore his jaw dropped in amazement, but I didn't blame him. These people weren't everyday commoners you see on the street, they were the high generals and rulers of two of the countries of China. The other country was Wei, I didn't know any of those generals, but Sun Quan said my father did. My mother only knew who Zhen Ji and Zhang He were. She fought against both of them with my father in their first fight together. I've always wanted to ask them about it, but I guess I just keep forgetting.  
  
"Hey, what do you say to coming with me after we finish here?" I asked.  
  
"Sounds great!" he said, "After we groom this charming little mare here, I'm off," he said.  
  
"Wonderful," I said and grabbed a brush.  
  
I hopped down and went into the stall. Zhou Lin also came in and tied the mare to a rope with a makeshift rope halter. I started grooming over her neck and down to her flank, following the path of the hair. Zhou Lin took a comb and groomed out her tail and mane. It was just a matter of minutes till we were finished and we unhooked the mare and let her loose in the stall.  
  
"So shall we be off?" I asked.  
  
"Yeah sure," he said.  
  
So we walked to the entrance gate to the palace grounds. The guards at the gate looked at Zhou Lin for a moment and immediately put up their pikes.  
  
"Halt! I can not allow you passage. What is your business?" asked one of the guards.  
  
"I am the daughter of Gan Ning of the Bells, Bandit of the Silken Sails. This is Zhou Lin, and he's with me. You do not need to ask further," I said with authority in my voice.  
  
"Yes, milady, but we still can not let him pass. He is but a commoner to our eyes," said the guard.  
  
"Aye, I understand, but your assumption is wrong. So let us pass," I ordered.  
  
The obeyed and opened the gate. Zhou Lin looked reluctant, but I gave him a smile and a tug on the arm and he gave in.  
  
"So where would you like to go first?" I asked.  
  
"Uh . . . dunno," he said.  
  
"Hmm . . . oh I got it! I'll introduce you to my father.  
  
So I dragged him in to find my father, who was still probably yelling at Li Wu, but that was beside the point.  
  
((Gan Ning's POV))  
  
I had just finished yelling my head off at Gan Li Wu. Setting off firecrackers! Funny, but wrong. I was sort of proud my genes for rebellion and love of setting off pranks had passed on to my son, but being a father, it made it a bad thing as well. I exited the room and decided to get a breath of fresh air and head out for an hour or two. I walked down the hall and took a deep sigh. I was starting too feel old now, and not as young with so much endurance. I headed around a corner and ran straight into a young lanky fellow who was slightly tall. I would have immediately liked the boy, until I saw Hua Wan with him . . . and she had her arm hooked to his. That's when my fatherly instinks kicked in to full gear . . . so I think I overreacted just a bit.  
  
"HUA WAN! IF HE TOUCHES YOU HE'S DEAD! AND SAVE SEX FOR MARRIAGE!" I blurted.  
  
"Um . . . Dad . . . your overreacting again," she said calmly.  
  
"Hehe, sorry . . . yelling at your brother all morning got me out of my normal calmness," I said trying to cover up.  
  
"Normal calmness? Gan Ning you are never calm, even when you sober," said a voice from behind.  
  
We all looked to see Liu Bei himself along with his son ((see I told you I was going to make him and Shang Xiang have kids!)) Liu Shin walk up. We all bowed in respect and rose up slowly.  
  
"How's it going, Bei?" I said.  
  
"Don't touch me, Ning," Liu Bei said with a forced smile.  
  
"Yes, sir," I responded immediately.  
  
((to be continued))  
  
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A/N: Hope you enjoyed it, sorry bout the short cutoff but it was getting really long and my creative skills need a break so yeah. Thanks fer reading! 


	4. The Cocky Dude From Wei

A/N: Wow last chappie got long hehe! It's so much fun to make Gan Ning act fatherly! =.= Wow I feel like the plot is going no where . . . hmm . . . oh well. Ok, an anonymous Wei fanatic has been at my throat to get me to do this, so I will. The Wei people will come back out of the middle of no where and they'll all be one big happy family, k? And I love you! WHEE! wink  
  
=================================  
  
Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates  
  
Chapter 4  
  
'The Cocky Dude from Wei'  
  
=============  
  
((Still Gan Ning's POV))  
  
Dang, Liu Bei really doesn't like me. Oh well, I don't really care. Liu Shin and Hua Wan laughed, but the boy with Hua Wan didn't. He stared in amazement at all of us, like he had never seen a human being before. Kind of made you uneasy, but curious at the same time.  
  
"So who's your friend, Hua Wan," I asked.  
  
"He's my friend, Zhou Lin," she said timidly.  
  
"Friend? Looks like just a commoner to me," Liu Shin said.  
  
I looked at the young arrogant prince. He had light hair and his father's facial features, but he hadn't inherited either of his parent's kinder personality traits. Besides his social skills he did take after his mother's love of battle and was constantly accompanying them to skirmishes despite his age of only twenty-one. I turned back to my daughter and . . . looked just like her mother 'in a certain time of the month'. In other words . . . she was PRETTY mad!  
  
"Just a commoner? For your information Liu Shin, he basically saved my life, and if not then he sure saved me a ton of bodily harm. Also, can you not address him like a normal person? Like he's even here?" Hua Wan spat at him.  
  
I could see Zhou Lin feeling sort of uncomfortable so I decided to do some Gan Ning-magic and get him out of here. So I stepped over to him and grabbed his arm, dragging him behind me as I walked back to Diao Wan's rooms, leaving my now very angry daughter behind.  
  
"DADDY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" she yelled.  
  
"OVER THE RAINBOW!" I yelled back over my shoulder.  
  
"What?" I heard her mutter.  
  
"Uh . . . sir?" Zhou Lin asked.  
  
"Yeah, kid?" I answered.  
  
"Could you let go of my arm? It's kind of hard to be dragged backwards and keep from falling in front of the girl you like- I mean your daughter," he said.  
  
I had to laugh. I guess I never thought of how intimidating it could be to have me as the father of 'the girl you like'. I never had to worry about that, thankfully. NO IN-LAWS RULED! I let go of the kids arm and gave him a wink . . . but then I thought about it . . . a young boy . . . plus MY DAUGHTER . . . equals . . . A COUPLE! I walked in a sort of angry daze till I saw Diao Wan walking down the hall to meet me.  
  
"Hello, love!" she greeted and kissed me on the cheek.  
  
Ahh . . . her kiss was still o-so-satisfying!  
  
"Hello, Wan," I said.  
  
"Oh hello . . . who might you be?" she said to Zhou Lin.  
  
"The name's Zhou Lin, ma'am. I'm a friend of Hua Wan's, she's back that way," he said pointing behind him.  
  
"Oh, no need to be so formal! I'm Diao Wan, her mum," Diao Wan said.  
  
"This is actually her boyfriend. Did you know anything about it?" I blurted.  
  
"Well I'm not exactly- I mean! - Not really . . . we're just friends I guess, but I sort of do- I mean I don't- well she is pretty- I . . . uh," Zhou Lin stammered nervously.  
  
"BOYFRIEND! YES!" she squealed in delight.  
  
I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Hua Wan, Liu Shin, and Liu Bei walking towards us.  
  
"Mother!" Hua Wan called out, embarrassed.  
  
"What? I'm just so happy for you! So when is he proposing?" Diao Wan asked excitedly.  
  
"Dear . . . I think its best we just leave the kids alone for now," I said as I pulled her away from the group.  
  
"Wait! Not without me you're leaving! I need to talk to you too," shouted Liu Bei.  
  
"What about me?" asked Liu Shin.  
  
"Stay with Diao Wan and her boyfriend," Liu Bei responded.  
  
"WE'RE NOT TOGETHER!" blurted Zhou Lin and Hua Wan at the same time.  
  
. . .  
  
Liu Bei, Diao Wan, and I had been walking down the hall for several minutes before Liu Bei decided to talk.  
  
"Wei had contacted me and Sun Quan in a proposal for peace between the kingdoms. At this point in time Shu and Wu occupy territories in the Wei lands. Furthermore, over these pasty years Cao Cao has passed on and his eldest son, Cao Pi, now occupies the throne. I have not done any sort of agreement with Cao Pi, nor have any of my advisors, so I do not know whether to trust this young ruler or not. I need you two to return to Wu and talk with Sun Quan about his comments and opinions on this proposal by Cao Pi. Afterwards I would like one of you to return and tell me. I do not want to send a messenger in case of interception of some sort of enemy," he said while walking in-between us.  
  
"I will do so, sir, in the mind that you helped me into this position I am now," said Diao Wan.  
  
"Thank you, Lady Diao," Liu Bei answered.  
  
"No problem, Bei," I said and patted him on the back.  
  
"Don't touch me," he said coldly.  
  
"Aye, sir!" I said.  
  
((Earlier, now in Hua Wan's POV))  
  
We all stood in silence as my parents walked down the hall with His Majesty Liu Bei. A very uncomfortable and awkward silence. Zhou Lin and I were shifting our feet slightly at my mother's comments, and Liu Shin was looking at his feet in embarrassment at his comment about Zhou Lin. We all just stood there waiting for one of the others to speak . . . but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. So I decided to try and break the deadening silence.  
  
"Sorry bout that Zhou Lin, my mom's crazy," I said.  
  
"Heh . . . it's alright," he said.  
  
I smiled; he was blushing from head to toe. Maybe he likes me? Oh well, I'll just have to wait to find out. I didn't want to do anything with Liu Shin around. Finally Liu Shin started a conversation and we talked for a long time before the adults returned. They were still talking intensely but slowly became quiet as we reached hearing distance of their whispers. The three of us stopped talking and looked over to them.  
  
"Hua Wan, please escort your boyfriend to the palace gate," my mother said.  
  
"He's not my boyfriend mom," I said with clenched teeth.  
  
"Suuuure," said Zhou Lin teasingly, which took me off guard, "Common, do come along, sweetheart."  
  
He gave me a wink and grabbed my hand and linked fingers. I blushed madly as he lead me around the corner and out of sight.  
  
"What are you doing?" I asked.  
  
"Just playing along," he said with a laugh.  
  
"Playing, huh? Then why are you still holding my hand –tightly- I might add," I said.  
  
"Uh . . . well . . . it's a perfectly logically reason!" he stammered.  
  
"Oh, really?" I said.  
  
"Yes," he said, "I like you."  
  
His answer caught me off guard and my heart skipped a beat. I stared at him in a stupor. He stopped walking and pulled me close. He felt so warm . . . and smelled so sweet. He lifted my chin up and kissed my lips. Warmth filled me all over in a downward wave of happiness. My stomach tingled with butterflies as he pulled away and I could tell I was blushing again for my cheeks were burning hot. He took his hand from my chin and stroked my cheek as he looked down into my eyes. I stared up at him –still in a daze- into his big dark blue eyes that I had never given their full credit to before. They were the exact color of the evening sky just before the sun sets completely. We stood there, his right hand linked with mine, and his left caressing my cheek. Then, almost like an instinct, our lips came together again. I had found something I had never felt in life . . . love for someone that wasn't in my family. All of a sudden he pulled away quickly and I looked up surprised. He was flushed slightly in his cheeks.  
  
"I'd better go," he said and ran off down the hall to the exit.  
  
I turned to look to see what might of set him off like that. Then I saw Li Wu. He was standing about three yards behind and his expression wasn't the happiest in all of China. In fact he looked rather disgusted, but he did just witness his older sister getting kissed.  
  
"I can't believe you!" he yelled.  
  
"What? Why are you so angry?" I asked confused.  
  
"Angry? That is a definite understatement! You let a commoner kiss you?" he bellowed.  
  
"Yes, and shut your trap about all that commoner business," I snapped.  
  
He looked fairly taken aback, but he just stared me down. He ground his teeth together. He had such bad habits. I could sense him searching for something to say and the tension between us grew.  
  
"No, I forbid you to ever see him again!" he yelled.  
  
"What? You can't do that! I'm seven years older than you are! And I'll be twenty-one once winter comes!" I protested.  
  
"I don't care. I'm your brother. I do have the greater authority," he said.  
  
"Greater authority? You make no sense. There is no logic in your statement, brother! I'm older and Mother certainly doesn't have a problem. Neither does father! Your opinion on the matter is overruled," I said, ice in my words.  
  
I could tell I had thrown him for a loop. He just stomped away angrily. As he left Liu Shin walked up.  
  
"Your father told me to tell you to pack you things. You're all leaving tomorrow morning for Wu," he said.  
  
My mind raced. What would we be leaving for?  
  
. . .  
  
I hate Wei! Why of all times must they decide to make peace? Oh well, I have a way with working around inconveniences. Two days ago we arrived at Wu and spilled the news to Sun Quan. Of course that was after he danced with joy at the fact my parents were alive. They talked for a long time with Sun Quan. A group of Wu officers were now on their way to Shu: Sun Quan, Lu Xun, their wives, and my parents. I was the stowaway. The one that is hidden in the baggage. The very, very, very uncomfortable baggage.  
  
"Ow! Why didn't I just follow behind, I know the way . . ." I groaned after several hours.  
  
I had an umbrella in my back, a sword hilt poking my side, sitting on a large uncomfortable trunk, and its handle was right on my tail bone. I shifted around trying to get in a comfortable position. I soon found that this task was literally . . . impossible. I thought for a moment. My plans were this: Come back to Shu to meet up with Zhou Lin by hiding in the enclosed baggage compartment in the back of one of the carriages; Hop off in the town were no one will notice; then . . . well I'd think of that part when the time came. All I knew right now is that I wanted to be in Shu. I wanted to be with Zhou Lin. I collapsed onto the horribly uncomfortable luggage and closed my eyes to think. It was only about a minute later when I felt the carriage slow and the roar of the city. I waited till I didn't think anyone would notice and opened the door to the baggage compartment. I quickly thrust myself out and did a nice summersault onto the ground for a landing. I quickly got out of the way of the following carriage and disappeared into the crowd.  
  
((Later, Diao Wan's POV))  
  
I stood one step behind Gan Ning. One step. No closer, no farther. I sighed. They should define step sometime, Gan Ning's strides weren't exactly normal. His feet were huge compared to mine as well. I laughed in my head and continued to stand. We were set up in the traditional fashion for formal dinners such as this. First, we were to receive our guests. Second, we then would go and eat. That was Gan Ning's favorite part. Third, we would do some more ceremony stuff that involved Wei becoming an ally again. But somehow, I didn't feel that Wei wanted to truly become our ally. It seemed impossible to me. Cao Cao's ambition had always been to rule all of China, certainly it would of been his son's. "Oh well," I thought.  
  
We were all in the entrance hall of Shu's capital palace. The representatives of Shu stood to our right, in the center of the hall. Guan Yu, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei stood with their wives one step behind them. I could see Sun Shang Xiang standing behind Liu Bei. She waved at me when she saw me trying to catch her eye. The representatives of Wu were: Lu Xun, Sun Quan, their wives, Gan Ning, and myself. Gan Ning stood on the right of Sun Quan. Lu Xun was on Sun Quan's other side. Lu Xun's wife, also Sun Quan's niece and Da Qiao's daughter, was a spunky young lady that was the complete opposite personality of my own daughter. Yet, she was Hua Wan's best friend when they both had been children.  
  
Our attention was suddenly diverted to the front door as it was pulled open by several soldiers. Several dark figures appeared in the door frame, facial features hidden by the bright sunset behind them. The first one walked into the hall with a cocky kick in his gait. The shadow lifted from his armor and face. I guessed that he was Cao Pi. He had overconfident eyes. Like he had something hidden and it was too good to keep hidden under a straight face. Like he thought no one could tell that he was going to do something, but the white knuckles in his tightly clenched fist gave it away.  
  
"Greetings, Emperor's Liu Bei and Sun Quan," he said with a loud voice.  
  
Both rulers bowed their heads in greeting for a moment. The other hidden figures from Wei emerged out of the shadow of the sunset. They walked to Cao Pi in the same formation as we were standing in. Zhen Ji stood behind Cao Pi. Xiahou Dun on Cao Pi's left, and Sima Yi on his right. Xiahou Dun's wife stood behind him. There was an empty spot behind Sima Yi. I guess he wasn't married, or his wife just flat out refused to be seen in public with him wearing that awful hat. Suddenly, a overly happy Zhang He skipped in. Yes, he was skipping.  
  
"HELLO to my fellow butterfly-scouts!" he squealed.  
  
We all stared in shock and utter surprise.  
  
"Oh golly-gee! Wrong room, my Monarch Leader! The butter-fly scout meeting is down the hall to your left!" piped up Lu Xun.  
  
We all now stared at Lu Xun in shock and utter surprise.  
  
"Hehe, silly me! Thank you!" Zhang He called as he skipped out.  
  
There was an awkward moment of silence as we all stared at Lu Xun in silence. Lu Xun's wife rubbed her forehead in frustration with her husband.  
  
"Shall we go to dinner?" asked Liu Bei, breaking the silence.  
  
Several nods and mumbles of agreement followed. Everyone walked towards the dinning hall, but Gan Ning stopped and waited for me to catch up. He offered his arm and I took it. Then we walked and followed everyone. Well actually I did this sort of jog number to keep up with his huge strides like I had been doing for all our twenty four years of marriage. We came to the dinning all and entered a room full of organized chaos. Servants flew around with all kinds of trays, foods, plates, and other assortments of things that you need for a feast such as this.  
  
"Shall we, my little love dumpling?" Gan Ning asked me.  
  
I laughed at his silly pet name. He always made something up to humor me.  
  
"Of course, my studdly pirate captain," I replied, a teasing smile on my face.  
  
"Dang . . . I love it when you call me that," he said with a far off look.  
  
====================================== ========================  
  
A/N: Hewwo! Yes, I'm sorry it took so long but things do pass by quickly during summer. Yet slower during the last days of school. I love the smell of a finished chapter in the evening. Ouch . . . note to self: Next time in marching band practice remember to put sun screen on the back of one's legs. Sunburn in that little joint thingy in the back of your leg is NOT fun. I repeat: NOT FUN!!! Yes. Ok. Yeah. Well I'm now going to make more excuses for the late chapter: Got a boyfriend. Time and love are enemies in the universe. Dumped the boyfriend. I know, I'm such a heart breaker, but he brought it upon himself he did. Marching band. Once you join marching band . . . you have no other life. Ok our practice schedule is this: Monday practice from 1:30-6:00 until June 28th where we practice every weekday from 1:30-6. For those of you who don't have very good math skills like myself: that's four and half hours. Yeah. Ok, well as you Obviously see: ZHANG HE IS BACK! even though he was decapitated by Gan Ning in like chapter five or six in Phoenix Swords and Ex-Pirates. I just love making pansy jokes . . . yeah . . .(Ever notice how my story titles give a whole new meaning to the words: LAME and CHEESEY!) Ok, also I just got a new computer and it surprisingly doesn't have Microsoft Word gasp so I'm in Word Pad. And gasp again it doesn't gasp have gasp SPELL CHECK! GAH! As much as I loathe spell check I need it cuz my spelling skills stink to high heaven and the lowest pits of hell. That bad yes. So if anyone wants to give me some smart mouth review about my spelling skills . . . go to hell. Sorry, and excuse my teenage French there, but you get the point now don't you? I just thought I'd tell you even though I know some- person- who-wishes-not-to-be-named-but-knows-who-she-is is going to anyway. (I love you some-person-who-wishes-not-to-be-named-but-knows-who-she- is!!!! hug dances with hobbits) Ok, I'm going to end this with one last note: I LOVE HOBBITS! And Gan Ning . . . but that's obvious. 


	5. MiniNings and the Fang of Light

A/N: Greetings all! Thank you for reviews! I love you all! Durn . . . I love this new computer but the internet stuff is all screwy so I can't get on the Internet or AIM gasp OH THE HUMANITY!!! Yes . . . call 911 we have an emergency.  
  
Gan Ning: Ok   
  
Ra: I was joking, baka. Ok, Ning do the disclaimer, I haven't done one in a long time and I don't think I ever put one up.  
  
Gan Ning: Ok. Um . . . ya . . . Ra does not own Dynasty Warriors, money, a car, me, and anything at all, except her PS2 and other life dependable objects such as a toothbrush. Except her toothbrush was free because she just went to the dentist's office and they're too cheap to give out the bouncy balls that make life o-so-fun and-  
  
Ra: knocks him unconscious I think that's enough . . . it was going into a very long run-on sentence there. Oh yes, in this chapter there is several fight scenes with Hua Wan, in these she recalls her training sessions with Gan Ning or Lu Xun. For she is inexperienced but remembers what she was taught (amazing I know). Warning: LOTS OF GORE IN THE FIRST COUPLE PARAGRAPHS!!!  
  
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))) )))))))))))))))))))))))))))  
  
Chapter Five  
  
'Mini-Ning's and the Fang of Light'  
  
(((((((())))))))  
  
(Hua Wan's POV)  
  
I had successfully gotten myself to Shu, and I had successfully gotten myself lost. I was in one of the more trashy and poor sides of the city. I stopped walking and looked around. Yep, this was at least the third time I had passed the same shady looking house. I turned around and tried to think of where I had taken my last turn. Suddenly, a cold chill ran up my spine. I felt as if I was being watched. I froze. I turned around slowly with my hand on my sword. Standing in front of me was several gruff looking men. One of them walked up and grabbed my shoulder roughly.  
  
"Well, well, well . . . what have we here," the man said, his rotten teeth showing behind a fat lip.  
  
"Don't touch me!" I spat and pulled my shoulder away.  
  
I backed up a couple steps, keeping my hand on my sword. "Just breathe deeply, and keep your head," I thought to myself. I quietly popped the hilt of my sword out of it's sheathe, thus making it ready to draw in a second. I stared at the men with a glare that could have killed.  
  
"Well, it looks like a young spitfire that's run a little too far from home," said one of them.  
  
"Yes, a very defenseless young spitfire," said another.  
  
"Defenseless you say? I do beg to differ . . ." I said coldly, drawing my sword out with expertise.  
  
The two farthest away from me jumped a bit, but the other held his ground. I suspected he was the leader of their little group, or the most experienced. "This might be just a little bit of fun," I thought. None had weapons. Also, none of them looked like they had ever fought a person wielding one. They seemed to be the kind of bullies that just used their weight, mass, and strength to kill or hurt others. "Don't underestimate your opponent. He may have several trump cards he's keeping hidden," Lu Xun had once told me. My sword was like a silver fang in the mouth of a sleeping dragon. Hidden by disuse, but once reviled, it shown with a brilliant light like that of the stars. "If you draw your sword first, the enemy gets the first move. It is a matter of courtesy, and of honor. Plus, it makes the whole thing look like a self defense situation, making you the good guy –I mean- girl," Lu Xun had explained when I asked about the matter of invasion. This wasn't an invasion, but it seemed to help.  
  
The first man clenched a fist and threw it at me with a powerful punch. Time seemed to slow as it came close to my head. "Gah! What do I do?" I asked myself. "Duck to the right and slash him in the side," Father had instructed me. I silently thanked Lu Xun and my father. They had taught me everything I knew. Now was the time to show that I had listened. I ducked to the right, avoiding his punch. Then I cut him in the side as he fell forward from the force of his own punch. He fell and screamed out in pain. His blood dripped off my sword. Pools of it ran from the man's open gash and seeped into the dry dirt, but he was alive.  
  
"GET HER!" shouted the other two men.  
  
Again they came at me with only their fists. That's were I made my mistake. I made the same move. Not wise. One punched to the right, were I had ducked. It hit me just below the collarbone. I fell with the force, pain in the right side of my chest. The other man kicked me while I was down in my shin. Those made me scream. Tears streamed down my cheek and dripped off my chin.  
  
"Haha, look at the little girl cry," one laughed.  
  
I sucked up my tears in anger. My blood boiled with rage now. Now I understood why my father loved to fight. The adrenaline rushed through my body making me shake with its power. My hand grasped my sword tightly. It made me feel powerful. Invincible. No one could stop me. I pushed myself with one hand and landed firmly on my feet. Blood pulsed in my head with a drumming throb. My sword now glowed with a brilliant light. It shown like the moon . . . no . . . like that of a fang inside the dark mouth of a wolf. Fear and panic were its allies. It shown with this light now. I wanted to kill them for laughing at me. I wanted them to die. To die in their own cold blood. I slashed the first man in the stomach, letting him scream. Then I pointed the tip of my sword into his gut. I pushed it in. I felt his blood flow down my hand and my arm. It was warm . . . frighteningly warm. "What have I done?!" I screamed in my head. I pulled my sword and hand out in panic. The man's eyes were dead . . . cold. He fell to the ground and blood ran out of his mouth. It bubbled and reeked. I stepped back in horror at what I had done. The last man stared at me in fear. He looked at me and ran. He never looked back, never slowed. I didn't blame him, for I had become a monster.  
  
((Gan Li Wu's POV))  
  
Stupid older sisters! She just had to go and run off didn't she? Of course! And why did she run off? Because she's in love with some lowly peasant! Romance is gross. I'd never kiss a girl even if my life depended on it. I was riding into Shu now on a horse I had stolen from the Wu stables. Nothing special, just Sun Quan's prized colt. I came to the marketplace and looked around aimlessly. Then a familiar face caught my eye. It was that filthy Zhou Lin. I pulled the young colt sharply into his direction. The horse stamped impatiently, but followed, and came right up to Zhou Lin. I dismounted quickly and landed perfectly in front of the commoner. He had been washing a bay mare with a bucket of soapy water. He turned and looked at me with confusion.  
  
"May I help you?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, you can. Stay away from my sister," I said with a cold tongue.  
  
He looked at me with even more confusion. He put down the bucket of water he had been about to pour on the mare's back.  
  
"May I ask who you are?" Zhou Lin asked.  
  
"Li Wu, Hua Wan's brother," I snapped.  
  
He seemed to recognize me now.  
  
"Why do you want me to stay away from her?" he asked.  
  
"You're a lowly commoner that doesn't deserve my sister and her social stature. You come but one yard of her and your life shall end there. Got me?" I snapped cruelly.  
  
He didn't even make a comeback, he just pulled back his fist and knocked me one good right in the kisser. I was thrown back a step in surprise.  
  
"Got me? You might be an inch or two taller, but let me remind you who's older kid," Zhou Lin said.  
  
That was it. I curled my lip in despise. I thruster my fist into his gut, making him doubled over, holding his stomach. It was on now!  
  
((Gan Ning's POV))  
  
We all had finished eating and were in good spirit. Okay, I just sounded like some kind of proper English person out of Romeo and Juliet! And there ain't no way in hell I'm Romeo! Diao Wan could tell ya' that! I was Don Juan de Marco, the greatest lover who ever lived! Yeah right! Well anyway so we had eaten till we felt like barfing and most of us were working on getting ourselves drunk (if we weren't already). Diao was engaged in conversation with Xiahou Dun and his wife, Hui Ying. Her and Diao had hit off like too peas in a pod. I had to laugh. I never knew Xiahou Dun was the family-man kind of guy! He and his wife had had three children: Shing, Ting, and Lei. Shing and Ting were twins. We had been sitting and talking together for awhile when the door to the hall banged open. Every eye in the room diverted to the door. Oh hell . . . Diao's putting me in the dog house tonight. Our two children came in covered in bruises, blood, and lots of dirt and mud.  
  
"Holy Wei . . . it's a bunch of mini-Ning's," Xiahou Dun said.  
  
The whole room burst out laughing. It was true, for Hua Wan and Gan Li Wu both took after my physical features greatly . . . and it seemed they had my gene of getting into trouble . . . or fights as it looked to be.  
  
"Ning . . ." Diao said in shock.  
  
"Yes, my cuddle-dumpling?" I replied.  
  
"What in the Seven Hells are our children –who we left in Wu- doing here? And looking like they got run over by a stampede of idiot Yellow Turbans?" she asked.  
  
"I have no idea, my dear. Although you could go and ask them," I said calmly with a small smile.  
  
I finished off the rest of my cup of wine as she marched over to scream and rant in rage at our kids. Ahh . . . the joy it brings to my heart to hear that woman get angry. She so hot . . .  
  
"See Hui Ying, you need to be more active like Lady Diao! All you do is stay home all day!" Xiahou Dun teased his wife.  
  
"Excuse me! I birthed your three –two at a time once I might add- children, cook your food, clean your house and laundry, and once I pulled a tire out of a creek bed! I HELPED THE ENVIROMENT!" she said, going red in the cheeks.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS A TIRE?!" he yelled back.  
  
"I DON'T KNOW!" she yelled.  
  
"My, my, my . . . such a loving couple," I said, leaning back in my chair.  
  
"And this comes from the man who has to sweet talk himself out of the dog house every night," Hui Ying said with a glare.  
  
"OOoooo! DISS!" said Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei in unison as they passed on their way to go watch Diao yell at Gan Li Wu for "ruining Hua Wan's chances at marriage to a nice young man".  
  
"Yes, very cold, my dear," Xiahou Dun said to his wife.  
  
She beamed with pride and laughed. I just refilled my wine glass and mumbled about Diao's tendency to overreact when I told Li Wu to short sheet Sun Quan's bed. It was only a little bit of fun! I would of done it myself but Li Wu needed the practice. Diao came back over, dragging Li Wu and Hua Wan by the arms.  
  
"Ning . . . they're your children. You yell at them now," she snapped and sat in her seat.  
  
"Diao Wan, dear, aren't you being a little harsh?" I asked, watching my words so I didn't set off my wife's short temper.  
  
She sighed and stood back up again. She had a look of resentment on her face.  
  
"Okay, so I was a little harsh. Hua Wan did what she did in self defense. I shouldn't blame you for getting lost in the bad district of Shu and getting attacked and end up killing your first opponent. BUT! You are still in trouble for coming here when I told you to stay home. Li Wu . . . beating up your sister's boyfriend because of your own prejudice is . . . is . . . I don't have a word for it," she lectured.  
  
"A very bad thing to do?" I offered.  
  
"Yes, that would be the word for it," she said, giving me a smile and a kiss on the top of my head.  
  
I just stuck my tongue out at Xiahou Dun and smiled to myself. Diao Wan grounded Li Wu and Hua Wan and sent them off to go get baths and such. She finally went to bed along with everyone else eventually. About two hours later it was only Cao Pi, Sun Quan, and I. We all sat in silence, sipping our cups of wine occasionally. I could tell Sun Quan was watching Cao Pi with a cautious and judging eye. I had been doing the same. We both wanted to see if we could actually trust this new general. Cao Cao had had a mistrusting personality. He would do anything and kill anyone if he could get more land and power along with it. It was just logic that his eldest son would be the same. Finally I guess Cao Pi sensed the fragile tension in the air. He stood up and nodded a goodbye to Sun Quan and me. I watched him leave with a solid glare. It was several moments later till Sun Quan spoke.  
  
"Well my friend . . . I have to say. There is something about that man I don't like. My father never trusted Cao Cao, nor did my elder brother. I will surely not trust Cao Cao's son. It was rumored that Cao Pi is worse than his father in his crave for power. Take Zhen Ji for example. Cao Pi took her away from her first husband because he wanted her as her own. It is like a conqueror who will take another man's land because he wanted more for himself," Sun Quan said.  
  
"I agree, my lord. I have been around many scoundrels in my life and if there is one thing I learned is that you can always tell a liar. They may keep a pretty good poker face and can keep the twinkle out of their eye, but the untrusting aura always surrounds them," I said.  
  
"You have some hidden wisdom in that head of yours, Gan Ning. Who knew?" Sun Quan said with a smile.  
  
"I won't take that as a compliment, but I won't take it as an insult. I'll call it even from my son's prank the other night that involved the shorting of your majesty's sheets," I said.  
  
After an hour or so of sitting in a comfortable silence, I decided it was best for me to go to bed.  
  
"Good Night, Sun Quan. I'd better go on to bed and let Diao sleep some," I said.  
  
"I thought she'd be asleep by now. Didn't she go to bed early on?" he asked.  
  
"Aye, but I know that woman. She never goes to sleep if I'm not there. She always makes the excuse that she needs something to hold on to when she sleeps, but I know better. She just waits up for me," I said, and with that I walked out.  
  
((Cao Pi's POV))  
  
I slid into bed next to Zhen Ji. She was lying down with her eyes closed with her back turned to me, looking asleep. I knew otherwise.  
  
"Ji . . . I'm worried," I said to her.  
  
She turned towards me and looked at me.  
  
"Why is this, my husband?" she asked.  
  
"I do believe that the Sun family brat sees through my plan. Along with that river rat, Gan Ning," I said coldly.  
  
"It's your aura. They can see right through your sober face and into your mind. I even feel it now. It is hard to hide, but do not fret. Just let Xiahou Dun do the talking from now on. He has enough experience were he is able to hide his aura," she told me calmly.  
  
"No! This is my plan and I shall be the one to carry it out fully," I snapped at her.  
  
She just scoffed and turned away once again.  
  
"Fine, but just like your father . . . your own arrogance will be your downfall," she said.  
  
Her words haunted my thoughts as I lay on my pillow. Would I really be like my father? Or was I already so much like him that I had become worse? I would have consulted Ji again, but she was obviously mad at me for snapping such at her. I could hear her soft breathing next to me. I tried to dose off but couldn't. Her words still in my brain. They haunted my thoughts over and over again till I thought I would go mad. I raked the room for something to concentrate on, my eyes burning with exhaustion. Every little sound made me jump. This wasn't me . . . I had always been fearless and careless. I never was one to worry . . . but tonight I worried so much I had sweat pouring from my brow. Finally, I stood up and put my robe on. I walked out into the hall and leaned against the wall. I had to clear my head. My plan had to work, they couldn't expect a thing. Not a thing . . .  
  
(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))))) ))))))))))))))))))))))))) A/N: hey I want to say to the two girls who went to my friend Ali's horse camp: Blair and Adrian, I FEEL FAMOUS! WHOOT! Hehe thanks u guys! (See Jashi, my a/n lot shorter now! XP) 


	6. The Chapter of the Endless Fluff

A/N: Hello! And welcome to the sixth chapter of Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates! Gah! I've been sooo exhausted from marching band I can't do a thing hardly. Oh well, serves me right joining a colt right? Lol

MEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEPMEEP

Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates

Chapter 6

"The Chapter of the Endless Fluff"

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((Diao Wan's POV))

"Gah! How long is that man going to take to decide to come to bed?!" I yelled in my head.

It was almost midnight and he still hadn't come in. I had been pouring over some maps and battle formation stuff by the light of a candle for a good three hours now. I sighed. This was going to be one long night if he was getting himself drunk. Lately, Xingba had picked up his old teenage habit of drinking. He wasn't a bad drunk normally if he was in a good mood before getting himself intoxicated, but if he had been mad . . . watch out. On those nights I tended to make him sleep on the couch, and if he refused to do so I went and slept on the couch. Oh well, it was easier to clean his regurgitated dinner off the sheets than the couch fabric anyway. I threw down my papers and jumped out of bed angrily. He was NOT staying up this late! I walked across the small room that adjoined the main master guest room and swung open the door. And standing right in the door frame was none other than Gan Ning.

"Where on Earth have you been?" I snapped, pulling him into the room.

"I'm sorry, got talking to Sun Quan," he mumbled as he rubbed his bloodshot eyes.

He was rather quiet and he immediately started to peel off his clothes to change. I noticed that his usual mischievousness was gone and that he was quite sullen, so I knew his apology was extremely sincere. I smiled sympathetically and gave him a hug. He stopped and leaned his head into mine. But after a moment he became fidgety.

"Wan, darling, as much as I enjoy your touch I'm kind of in the middle of trying to take off my pants," he said with his usual impish tone.

I laughed and let go of him. True to his word he had one pant leg off and had been trying to pull the other off completely by standing on one foot. He lost his balance and fell quite hard onto the floor.

"Ning! Are you alright?" I asked concerned.

"I don't know, can you kiss me and make it all better?" he asked with that cute devilish smile.

"Oh, you brown-nosing-pirate!" I said, hitting him playfully on his shoulder, but kissing him softly on the lips before helping him up

((Xiahou Dun's POV))

I walked down the hall after finishing . . . "my business" and I came across the young emperor Cao Pi. He looked very shaken and scared. Like he'd seen a battlefield just after dusk with the cries of the fatally wounded calling to him in hopes of a miracle. I walked over to him slowly, picking out my words carefully so not to scare or anger him.

"My Lord . . . are you alright?" I asked.

"AH! Oh, it's just you Xiahou Dun. My apologies . . . I have been disturbed by my wife's wise words," he said.

"Um . . . did she perhaps . . . 'send you to the doghouse'?" I asked without thinking.

"NO!" he shouted but then sighed and spoke again softly, "I had snapped at her and, Zhen Ji being Zhen Ji, she snapped back. And her words have haunted me."

"May I be so bold as to ask what is it she has said?" I asked.

He wrung his hands together thoughtfully. I had seen his father do this many a time when he was shaken such as this. He at first seemed to just ignore my question and I thought about taking a run for it and go to bed . . . and I regretted not taking the chance a second later.

"She said: 'Fine, but just like your father . . . your own arrogance will be your downfall.' What does this mean? Have I become him already? Or am I worse?" he asked.

"Perhaps this is a question for Sima Yi . . ." I offered.

He scowled suddenly, and I stepped back.

"If it was a question I meant for Sima Yi I would not have asked you. You are my key player in this charade of 'peace'."

"Charade?"

"Yes, a charade. I have been only pretending to make peace- Come we cannot talk here for the Shu-dogs' ears are everywhere."

I blinked at Cao Pi in a surprised confused stare . . . but I went along with him. Even though he did sound like some freak beaver out of the "Chronicles of Narnia" and was over exaggerating. I hate beavers. He entered his quarters and I followed him inside. He lit a candle in the room and turned back to me.

"I have only pretended to make peace, because I plan to set a trap. We will capture the main generals and execute them. Without these generals each country will surely fall," Cao Pi said with a tone of anticipation.

"My Lord, has not enough blood been shed? There is finally peace in this land! Are you not provoking war?" I asked.

"Xiahou Dun . . . this land . . . cannot be ruled by three countries . . . and I will see to it that Wei is the one who rules it. China will be ours, for China is ours. Remember that before you question me," he snapped.

Frankly, I was worried . . . and surprised. This was not good news.

"Sir, forgive me, but I must be on to bed. My wife is probably worried," I said, giving myself an excuse to get out of there.

"By all means," he said with a nod.

I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me. I walked down the hall biting the tip of my upper lip in frustration. "This is bad," I thought, "I disapprove of his plan . . . disapprove with it strongly . . . but if I defy my Lord I defy my country and to defy my country is certain death and I would never do what wasn't best for Wei. Sheesh, I really need to talk to my wife. When in doubt, ask Hui Ying." I came to my door and opened it, finding my wife just behind it. She didn't look to happy with me.

"WHERE WERE YOU?" she shrieked.

"Going to the bathroom," I said honestly.

"It doesn't take a man that long to go the bathroom," she said, and she was right.

"Well I ran into Cao Pi," I said honestly once again.

"Cow pee?" she asked confused.

"NO! CAO PI! LORD OF WEI! CAO PI!" I bellowed.

"WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?" she cried.

"Because I'm a stupid man and I didn't mean to yell at you?" I offered.

She considered this excuse for a moment.

"Ok, fine," she said.

She walked back over to the bed and lied down. I came over and pulled the blanket up for her. She kissed my cheek and I smiled down at her. Walking to the other side of the bed, I kicked off my shoes and flopped into the bed next to her. She cuddled close to my side and was going to fall asleep before I opened my big mouth.

"Hui Ying . . . Cao Pi is planning to capture several generals from Wu and Shu and kill them to provoke war. He wants another war so he can win and make Wei the dominate kingdom. I would love for Wei to rule China . . . but I don't want any more blood to be shed. No more fighting. I wish for peace," I said.

"And if you say otherwise you end up called a traitor and killed am I correct?" she said.

"Yes," I answered.

"Then don't do what Cao Pi says. The troops love you more than Cao Pi anyway. And I know they are also sick of the fighting and yearn for peace as you do."

"What if you're wrong?"

"Then I'm wrong."

"But we would die."

"I'd rather have you die happy, than live old with shame."

"Would you die with me then?"

"With you? I'd have it no other way."

And that was that.

((Hua Wan's POV))

I lay in my bed sulking. I couldn't sleep. The horror of what I had done was too overwhelming. I watched jealously as Li Wu snored unconscious in the single bed across the room. I wanted to throw my shoe at him. So I did.

"WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?" he yelled after the shoe came into contact with his cranium area.

"Because I'm mad at you, and I can't sleep," I said.

He threw off his covers frustrated and came to sit on the side of my bed. He gave me a glare only a younger brother could give. It was one of those: I'm-sorry-I-was-protecting-you-and-why-did-you wake-me-up-so-late looks.

"You weren't doing the right thing," I told him.

He gave me a slightly guilty look.

"That's right. Give me the puppy dog eyes. It's not going to work, moron," I said.

He just went back over to his bed and lay with his back away from me. I must have fallen asleep, because that's the last thing I remembered till early the next morning when I found him gone.

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Well that's that. I know lots of fluff and a big cliffhanger at the end . . . well not as big as I used to leave Hehe. Well, adios for now. Sorry it took so long to update, but you know me. I take a long time to do everything it seems. I might not continue . . . people seem to have lost interest seeing as I didn't get much reviews. I might start trying to revise, modernize, and fool around with Phoenix Swords and Ex-Pirates and relate it to the modern American teen and maybe get it published . . . its kind of a standing goal for me during my new high school career . . . if u got any ideas just tell me in the reviews.


	7. Storm Runner the Equine Strategist

A/N: Awww . . . I feel so touched guys I got several awesome reviews this time! I LURVE YOU ALL! hug Oh, one reviewer did have a question: No, Xiahou Dun isn't dead . . . he's asleep. Ok, and since I feel the last chapter could have been SOOOO much better, this one is going to be spankin'! YEAH, BABY!!

Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates

Chapter 7

"Storm Runner the Equine Strategist"

((Gan Ning's POV))

I awoke almost falling off the bed and my brain throbbing in my cranium in the shear pain from a powerful hangover. Diao Wan was turned away from me still fast asleep. Such a cruel unloving woman! Sleeping the farthest away from me as possible, and hogging the blankets no less! Wait . . . I kicked those off last night . . . and Wan does get cold in her sleep. Ok, so I was the drunk, brutish husband who scared my wife away with rancid wine-breath. Terrible, I am. Pushing my luck, I rolled over to Wan and hugged her tighter than I probably should have.

"Wan . . . WHY ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?!" I said loudly in her ear.

I swear I've never seen that woman jump so high. She turned around, socked me one in the stomach, and pulled all the blankets and pillows over her eyes and ears as possible. Ok, so I was more than a terrible horrific man, I was annoying as a mumbling mother-in-law that chews with her mouth open. She moaned angrily for a moment before going back to sleep. My dear beloved wife was anything but a morning person. In fact she'd rather muck out the royal stables than wake up at this "untimely hour" of eight thirty. I rubbed my now also hurting stomach, and stared at the ceiling. I had never noticed the beautiful world of light and color that had been painted on the ceiling. It was a picture of a sunset in the mountains just east of the border of Shu. It was a monochromatic painting done in red. The mountains looked like dark jagged shadows that protected the skies. The many clouds were a vivid pink and the sky grew from a deep dark red to a brilliant scarlet as the horizon came closer. My head seemed to clear as I studied the painting for several minutes. In fact it cleared up so much, my eyes unconsciously closed and I dozed off until the door to our bedroom opened with a loud bang.

I lurched upright to see my daughter, Hua Wan, standing with her eyes wide open in the door frame. Her scared eyes and loud, clumsy entrance said that something was terrible wrong. Diao Wan threw off her fortress of bed sheets and cushions with a startled jerk.

"What's wrong?!" both Diao Wan and I asked quickly.

"Li Wu is missing!" she gasped, out of breath.

Both Wan and I sprang out of bed, not bothering to dress or put on shoes. Hua Wan stammered about some kind of fight and him not being there this morning, a horse and his belongings gone, and that she had been looking for him for a good twenty minutes and said everyone she asked hadn't seen or heard of him. I went to the persons who know all that goes on in Shu. No, not Liu Bei, and Zhuge Liang, nor Guan Yu and Zhaing Fei, but Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei. The kings of all bad, mischievousness, rebellious deed ever thought of that were only second to me. I marched down the hall looking for the two when I ran into Xiahou Dun, Hui Ying, and a younger girl that looked about Li Wu's age.

"Have you all seen my son, Zhao Yun, or Jiang Wei?" I asked.

"Ning . . . did you not bother to dress yourself this morning? You seem to be out of . . . your normal apparel," said Xiahou Dun.

I looked down to the simple drawstring pants made of a grey cloth that I had put on last night to sleep in. Also, my bare feet felt as cold as ice blocks as I stood on the cold marble floor.

"Well if my daughter hadn't burst into the room announcing that her brother was missing and had been for an estimation of one hour, I might of thought of putting on a shirt," I retorted.

The young girl giggled at my satire before being shushed by her mother.

"This is my daughter, Xiahou Ting," Xiahou Dun said gesturing toward the girl.

I nodded my head at her and gave a simple bow. She returned the bow politely.

"To answer your first question, Xingba, no we haven't seen them," Hui Ying said for her husband who seemed to of forgotten that I had said anything.

I nodded again to say my thanks and turned from the group to leave when I was plowed into and knocked over by a strong incoming force that knocked out my wind with a great push. I soon realized this powerful blow was given by my son.

"DAD?! You're awake? I mean –uh- you're awake. I was just out taking a walk. It's nothing to be worried about! Just out for a little walk," I said flustered.

Of course, I wasn't buying.

"Li Wu, let me guess: Your sister and you got in a fight. You got mad. You ran away, but you forgot something, or you got scared/lonely and came back. You've now plowed into me and are suspecting me of knowing everything, which I indeed do," I said simply while rising from the ground.

He stared at me like I had lobsters crawling out of my ears.

"How'd you . . .?" he breathed.

"Know everything? Your sister told me- I mean it's a father thing . . . yeah a father thing," I said.

Then I noticed that Li Wu was at no point looking or listening to me. He was staring at Xiahou Ting. He blinked surprised, as if he'd never seen a girl in his life. Suddenly I caught on. I jerked Li Wu by his collar and made him walk away.

"Li Wu, we're leaving," I said, "You could try and walk now. Li Wu?"

It was done. My son was lost and captured by the alluring beauty of the feminine race. Li Wu was obviously love struck. Very love struck.

((Hua Wan's POV, meanwhile))

"I wonder . . ." I said aloud to myself.

Maybe Li Wu went into the city looking for Zhou Lin, again. I guess it was better than looking around here. Basically, it was obvious he had gone, BUT if he came back he'd certainly run into Mom or Dad. So I took off out into the court yard that was right next to the surrounding boarder stone wall.

To most people the court yard meant relaxation and peace of mind. It had a beautiful natural spring that flowed into it from beyond the stone wall, lush emerald green foliage, and in the spring swam huge golden koi. The air just stopped time as you walked through it. But these things meant nothing to me. To me this yard mean nothing more than a shortcut, but it was an important shortcut. It was a shortcut to Zhou Lin. I had discovered it yesterday afternoon.

In the Shu capital, the palace is in the middle and the city has formed a swelling –ever growing- circle around it. I had ran from where-ever I had been to anyplace with people. I –ironically- ran into my little brother and Zhou Lin brawling in the dirt outside the stable. A little mare stared at them blankly as if confused as to why the human kind was so strange. After I preyed them apart, Zhou Lin directed us to the palace wall, from there we climbed over and landed in this courtyard.

I ran into the yard, zigzagging around the bushes and trees. I used a bend as a springboard as I leapt into the air and launched off the wall and made a quite graceful landing. I headed off to the stable where Zhou Lin worked and immediately spotted him. He must of just been getting to work for her was getting ready to open the wooden door and was carrying his lunch. He heard me approach and smiled. He dropped his lunch sack and embraced me as I ran into his arms. I could tell her was overjoyed to see me, but his eyes held a million questions that defiantly needed answering. I held him close and tried not to look up just yet. I didn't know where to begin.

"Why, good morning, Hua Wan," he said with a playful smirk.

"Good morning," I laughed and finally looked up at him.

He cocked an eye brow at me confusedly as if asking me why I was here, why I was covered in blood the day before, and why I wasn't grounded all in one gesture.

"Li Wu went missing this morning. We had had a fight last night. I thought maybe he ventured over here," I said.

"Ahh . . . I see. Well, haven't seen him, unfortunately for you, but fortunately for me. He's too chicken to leave with no reason," he said.

I opened my mouth to defend him, but shut it quickly. I barely knew Li Wu, how did I know what Li Wu was really like?

"ZHOU LIN!" someone yelled from inside the barn.

Zhou Lin snapped his head around and let go of me.

"That'd be my boss. I had better go. I'll meet you later tonight in the palace court yard?" he asked.

I nodded, "I'll meet you there as soon as the sun sets."

I watched him enter the barn, yelling to his boss. I walked back to the palace the long way around. I loved Zhou Lin . . . but was it right to anger my brother so? I know that it probably wasn't proper for the daughter of Sun Quan's right-hand general to be seeing a stable boy, even if he was very cute stable boy. And to add to the whole mess, I had chosen him without consulting my parents –even though they didn't care. My mother had done the same thing . . . well it had been arranged but I think Sun Quan –or Sun Jian- had put the two together on purpose. I doubt that would happen again. "I need to talk to someone," I said to myself. I considered my options. Dad? Defiantly no! Mother? Another definite negative. Let's see . . . Zhao Yun? No, he and Jiang Wei would probably die if they knew Zhou Lin was only a stable boy. The idea came to me! Lady Sun Shang Xiang! She's younger, thinks for herself, knows about all this mess, and has a superb knowledge of what is suspected of a lady in the house of Wu. She never followed them, but you have to know the rules to break them! One problem, with Lady Shang Xiang being Lord Liu Bei's wife she was hard to get time to talk with her. Perfect. Well, it was early in the day, maybe she didn't have much planned.

Soon, I found out that indeed she had much planned, she wasn't even here. I guess I'd just have to figure out this one myself.

((Gan Li Wu's POV))

It was several hours after I had seen her. Xiahou Ting. I silently thanked Xiahou Dun for naming his daughter the name of an angel. She had extremely long black hair that came to her curvy waist, a delicate form and metallic blue eyes that were glaring the definition of horrendous murder at me.

"Gan Li Wu! If you don't stop staring at me I'm going to tell my father!" she hissed.

Maybe my father and I have some sort of weird taste, but whenever a woman got angered like that at you she seemed twice as beautiful.

"Okay," I said idiotically.

"Imbecile," she said, "You're still staring at me!"

Let's face it, I was a stupid Neanderthal that had his first crush. I think Dad had figured it out because he had gone and given me "the talk". Scary it was, very scary. Xiahou Ting scoffed at me. She pouted, protested, ranted, raved, and threated me over and over again trying to get me to go away. Yet she never made me or went along with her threats. Finally, after an hour, she got fed up.

"Li Wu . . . why are you still hanging around me even after all I've said?" she asked after a deep breath.

"Because your cute, and when your mad your even cuter," I said bluntly.

She immediately shut her mouth and her eyes got huge. Obviously, poor Xiahou Ting hadn't been expecting this answer, or my bluntness of the answer as well. Onc over he shock she looked at me for a moment then started down the steps to the outside. I was a bit confused to say the least. She turned and gave me a that looke of promised cruel horrific death.

"Aren't you coming?" she growled.

"You like me don't you?" I asked as I followed her, my hands shoved in my pockets.

"In your dreams!" she yelled.

We walked along outside together as she yelled and screamed at me. I just followed and smiled. She so digged me!

((Hua Wan's POV))

I had returned to the palace about an hour and a half ago and had now hidden myself form the world in the stall of poor old Strom Runner. He had his now gray muzzle in my hands as I blew into his nostrils. The old gelding shook his mane and snorted back at me.

"No, Strom, I'm going to stay right here until you answer me," I said to the horse.

He stared at me boredly.

"Oh common, old boy! What do you think I should do about Zhou Lin and Li Wu?" I pleaded.

Storm Runner stamped his back hoof frustrated and lipped my ash brown hair as if it was hay.

"I don't think I should eat them, Storm," I laughed.

The horse gave a low whinny and I scratched his forehead and tugged at his ears. I found it amazing how an old horse could be so playful. Storm Runner had gone from a fearsome flaxen war horse to a playful fat red roan. Strom Runner flicked his head up and snorted, now extremely alert.

"What is it, old boy?" I asked.

The stall door opened and Liu Shin stepped in. Storm Runner, not interested in him or I, turned his back to us and stared boredly out his stall window.

"Hey," Liu Shin said, "I was looking for you, who were you talking to?"

I stood up and wiped some saw dust and hay off my backside.

"Just old Storm the equine strategist, here. What'd you need me for?" I asked.

He shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

"Heh . . . forget now," he said.

We both laughed. I studied the young prince now. He wasn't all that bad looking. He had very distinct high cheek bones and a big broad smile. He looked a lot like his father, but had the Sun family sense of personality. He gave me a toothy grin. I smiled half-heartedly back.

"Excuse me Liu Shin, I must be going," I said.

He was open with his disappointment. I walked towards the door but he blocked my escape. He suddenly pulled me to him and held my chin up so I looked into his eyes.

"Hua Wan . . . I know haven't even known each other long, but I feel like I've known you all my life. I'm here for you," he said.

He loosened his grip on me and I pulled away quickly. My eyes were wide with surprise, anger, and a little bit of fear. I was like a frightened fawn. Timid and would run at the slightest advancement. Liu Shin made the mistake of reaching forward to try and apologize or comfort me. I turned and sprinted away, running as quick as I could, my feet barely hitting the ground in my flight. "Run," my instincts told me, "Run to protection!" So I rand past my brother, Sun Quan, passed my parents, and feel to my knees and shed tears of confusion in front of the officer I had always gone to for help: Lu Xun.

"Hua Wan! What troubles you?" he asked.

I searched for words but could find none. My throat chocked up and I couldn't say anything at all. Lu Xun kneeled next to me and put a hand on my shoulder for comfort.

"Take deep breaths," he told me calmly.

I inhaled a fast breath and let it out slowly. After several breaths I could finally be still without shaking in tears. I told him everything, my mouth running a mile a minute. He listened carefully. Once I had finished, Lu Xun was silent for several moments.

"Hua Wan . . . your situation is one to be discussed and though over, my dear," he said, "Will you take my up most honest answer?"

"Yes . . ." I said.

"To me Zhou Lin would be ridiculed and spat upon by those who disapprove of him. You cannot always have what fate sees fit for you. So, I think it best you don't bring your relationship further and speak not of it. For you too could be ridiculed from these same people. There is one more point to be considered. You are of age to be married. Above age to be married. It won't be long before Sun Quan or Gan Ning will give you away in an arranged marriage," he said trying to say it in as nice as possible.

My heart accepted these words almost willingly now. I knew they had had a long time in coming. I swallowed on coming tears and looked to the floor. I nodded and got to my feet. "Save your tears . . . you'll shed them later tonight," I told myself in my head. I was now not looking foreword to tonight's meeting with Zhou Lin.

A/N: Hehe hope you all liked it. Hey I got it up quicker than usual! YIPEE!!! dances with much joy


	8. A Father's Nightmare

A/N: Yeah! Oh boy, I'm having way too much fun with this story! Hehe! big hug to reviewers See peoples? If you review you get a nice big happy hug from your favorite author Ra-chan. SO REVIEW!!

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Hua Wan, Daughter of Pirates

Chapter 8

A Father's Nightmare

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((Hua Wan's POV))

I waited in an anticipating trance of torture. Why does the sun take so long to set? This was going to slowly kill me. I knew what I had to do. I knew how I was going to do what I had to do. But I knew not of the eternal pain that it would cause me. In my impatience with waiting I had retreated to the court yard, so no one would walk by and ask what was wrong. There was only two other people in the garden and they seemed intent to avoid me as well as each other. Lord Kongming the Sleeping Dragon of Shu and his arch rival Sima Yi of Wei, glared at one another from behind their fans. I had once though of being a strategist but I decided there was too much devilry, treachery, and staring competitions involved. Their mouths were moving so I assumed that they were talking about something they either wished me not to hear of their mouths were having chaotic spasms. So, with the sun still an hour from setting I decided to have a little fun and eavesdrop. I got up onto my hands and knees and crept slowly from where I was sitting. Making no audible sounds, I crawled to a clump of bushes and sat down out of view.

"I don't trust you, Sima Yi," Zhuge Liang said with ice in his voice.

"Really now? I'll take that as a compliment I think," the purple robbed Sima Yi responded coolly.

Strategists really need to get lives I concluded as I muffled a giggle. Maybe it was just me, but old men are so funny when they fight! I listened to them talk till nightfall when Zhuge Liang finally blinked. They finally retired into the castle a few minutes after the sun had set. I waited for the sound of footfalls near the wall with anticipation. I could hear the hoots of owls and the rustling of the changing leaves in the wind. The sounds were so faint and relaxing my eyes drooped with tiredness and I fell asleep against my knee. I was awoken with a start at as a hand gently pulled away a stray hair out of my face and tucked it tenderly behind my ear. My eyelids fluttered open and I looked up to see Zhou Lin smiling sweetly next to me.

"Sleep much?" he asked teasingly.

I smiled seeing his happy face, but immediately was reminded of the reason my afternoon had been destroyed. As my grin melted into a frown, Zhou Lin looked at me curiously.

"There's something wrong isn't there?" he asked.

I nodded sadly.

"What is it?" he questioned with concern.

"Something Lord Xun has told me. He has said that we cannot be together. It would discriminate us from the rest of both our people as well as any children we would have if married. He has advised me greatly to take our relationship no further . . ."

"Stop! What do you mean? I don't care about discrimination!"

"You don't now, Zhou Lin. Think about it from twenty years from now . . . wouldn't it be tiring? Would you want your children to be outcasts?"

"Not particularly."

"See what I mean?"

"Yes, but why most it mean this?"

I sat beside me and held his head in his hands sadly. I hugged him and kissed his shoulder.

"Zhou Lin . . . I love you. I always will, and I'll never ever forget you . . ." I whispered.

"I as well, my sweet one," he said turning to me and holding me in his arms.

That is the last time I ever saw Zhou Lin again, for several guards were patrolling and gave us quite a fright when we heard their voices. Zhou Lin got up and leapt over the fence before they reached us. I went off to bed and cried myself to sleep. I miss him dearly.

((Li Wu's POV))

I woke up after a very sound nights sleep. I had gone to bed a little early so I was asleep before Hua Wan came in. She was now asleep on her bed across the room, so I'm sure I didn't wake up when she entered. I was just beginning to know my sister, and the fact that she was avoiding me most of the time really hurt me a lot. My own fault I knew, but the fact that she was so temperamental about it just made me want to fight back. "I'd best just leave it," I thought in my head. I got up from bed and crept on tiptoe to the door as to not awake Hua Wan. But as soon as my foot was out the door she shot upright.

"Sorry," I said softly seeing her bloodshot eyes.

"It's ok, I'm just a little jumpy," she said.

I couldn't help it. She looked so saddened. I walked over to her and sat next to her.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" I asked concerned for my older sister.

"No. Nothing happened. Nothing's wrong," she snapped.

"That's a bad lie," I said calmly.

Tears streamed from her saddened eyes and I felt pain for her.

"Hua Wan, please tell me what is wrong?" I pleaded wit her.

"Well . . . if it makes you happy to know . . . Zhou Lin is no longer in my life," she said with a cool tone.

Obviously I wasn't on my sister's good side right now. I'd best leave her be. Time passed and all representatives of the kingdoms had returned home. Hua Wan sulked around mostly still missing her beloved. I knew I was partly to blame for her sorrow and woe, but she was very good at holding a grudge and avoiding me for weeks on end. Mom and Dad were content and happy as usual. If seeing how fast you can catch up with friends was a sport my father was the King at it. Mom was a lot calmer than Dad and only said something to put her two cents in when Dad was talking in a huge group of people. I was checking out the lovely ladies of Wu. Dad was right. Wu did have the most beautiful women, but none could out glorify Xiahou Ting. Xiahou Ting was the main subject I discussed in my mind. I often found myself muttering her sweet name when I was alone, the sugary taste of the words leaving a delicious aftertaste in my mouth. Her face was a constant guest in my dreams. Bleh . . . the world was so dull to me now. Even the highly rumored Qiao sisters were wrinkled old hags in comparison to my Wei beauty.

"Son, what ARE you talking about?"

Jerking my head up off the desk I seemed to of fallen asleep at, I came face to face with my father. His eyes held a questioning look of concern.

"Nothing, sir," I said.

"Li Wu . . . if I am not mistaken you were talking in your sleep," Gan Ning said with a knowing smile.

"Maybe," I said, "How would I know? I was asleep wasn't I?"

"Or daydreaming," Gan Ning let out in a cough.

"Okay, Dad," I said getting slightly irritated, "I have a crush. Big whoop! Stop making a big deal out of it!"

He just laughed and shook his head as my mother walked in.

"What's so funny, Xingba?" she asked.

"Dad is amused by my fancy of a girl," I said with clenched teeth.

"Xingba stop laughing! Sun Quan wants you, so go!" she ordered my father.

"Oh he does? Tell him I'm deeply flattered, but unfortunately I'm married," chuckled Gan Ning.

"Ah, shut up you ungrateful sorry pirate! I conceived your two children and that's all I get?! Sun Quan has orders for you NOW GET!" my mother yelled as she planted a firm kick on my father's posterior.

"Ow! Evil nagging-," Gan Ning complained as he hobbled away, his voice trailing off.

Mom smiled at me and gave me one of those mom-hugs.

"Buy her some flowers," she said before walking off after my father.

((Gan Ning's POV))

Diao Wan bounded down the hall and caught up to me, poking her head around my left side she showed off a mischievous cat grin.

"Oh! What are you smirking about?" I asked her.

"Oh nothing!" she said, now walking by my side.

"Sure, love," I mumbled rolling my eyes.

She smiled girlishly and giggled. A rare event.

"Wan, did you just giggle?" I asked her teasingly

"Surprise! I'm a girl!" she said, rolling her beautiful eyes.

"So are you coming as well?" I asked her.

"No, just making sure you follow your orders without any unnecessary delays," she said.

I laughed. Who needed a mother when you had a wife like Diao Wan? The door to Sun Quan's study was opened as we approached.

"Hello, Ning. Thank you for fetching him for me, Lady Diao. You're the only person capable of finding him. He has a knack for hiding when I need him," Sun Quan said.

"Oh, it's actually quite simple, Lord Sun. All you have to do is shout "RUM" and he comes running as fast as Red Hare. Well, I must be on my way, good day, sir," she said.

The guards outside closed the door behind her.

"They got you a very fine wife, Ning," Sun Quan said from behind his desk.

"Aye, best there is in my opinion," I replied.

"Take a seat, friend," he said.

I plopped into a lavish velvet cushioned chair across from him.

"The only time you ever call me in here and invite me to sit down is when we talk about battle plans or some kind of special mission that might kill me even if I am successful. By the way, they never have," I implied with a smirk.

"Yes . . . but this time its about a letter from Liu Bei. He has sent me a request. You know my nephew Liu Shin do you not?"

I nodded.

"Well he has requested something of me –well technically you. Liu Shin is already married..."

"Whoa! Wait! That young buck ALREADY has a wife?" I interrupted.

"Aye. He's my brother-in-laws favorite son."

"What happened to Liu Chen? He's not married yet and he's at least thirty."

"He's not my sister's son, now is he?"

Yes . . . Liu Bei favored Sun Shang Xiang over his other wives. It was natural for him to favor Liu Shin as well, and give the boy anything he wanted.

"Liu Shin has asked his father for Hua Wan as his second wife," Sun Quan blurted.

"What?" I asked.

This was not happening. My daughter was NOT getting married, and she was not going to be someone's SECOND wife. Not my Hua Wan!

"Sun Quan you WILL NOT give my daughter over to some young spoiled prince who has done nothing to make his name known in life!" I snapped.

"Liu Shin has fought in several skirmishes . . ."

"SEVERAL SKERMISHES! Has he fought in a war? A true battle? Lead a night raid on Wei with only one hundred men and not have a single solider die?"

"Not all of us can be the Great Gan Ning of the Bells. And I am ashamed you would think I would give your daughter away without your consent!" said Sun Quan with anger.

"Then why does the letter in your hand to Liu Bei and not to you?" I said coldly.

Sun Quan became quiet. Yes. He was holding a letter that was written by him to Liu Bei. It was a reply to Liu Bei telling him he accepts the request.

"Sun Quan . . . why have you double crossed me?" I asked.

"I had no choice on the matter! It could not be helped! Plus, you daughter is twenty, Gan Ning! She has to marry someone! She is older than most girls just getting married so she's lucky she got an offer at all! Women can't make names for themselves by fighting anymore, Ning! I'm doing you a favor!" Sun Quan shouted.

I glared at him with pure anger. I raised my fist to strike him when I felt a strong hand squeeze my elbow strongly.

"Xingba, go calm down please," Lu Meng said calmly.

I lowered my hand to my side, still clenching my fist. Even if my trusted friend Sun Quan double crossed me; I would not argue with Lu Meng there. Walking out of the study, I shoved the doors open with a massive push, therefore, sending the guards in front of them forward and into the opposite wall. Lu Xun, who had also been in front of the door, stared at me with wide eyes as the guards were thrown on either side of him. I stomped past him then stopped.

"Lu Xun . . . have you seen my daughter?" I asked.

"No, but Lady Diao is down the way," he said pointing down a staircase at the end of the hallway.

I nodded and stormed down the hall. I ran down the stairs and fell into Diao Wan.

"Sorry, love," I apologized as she rubbed her forehead.

Her head had crashed into my chest, hurting her nose and her forehead had hit my collar bone.

"Why in such a rush?" she asked with a nasal accent.

I quickly explained what had happened with Sun Quan to her. She seemed vaguely upset, but overall she had no reaction.

"Don't you understand, Wan?!" I said loudly, looking into her eyes.

"I agree that he shouldn't of done that, but its is time Hua Wan was married. I had expected her to be when we came back. Ning she needs a husband now otherwise I'm afraid our daughter will never be wed and have children," she said.

"Why would she need children?" I asked, half pouting.

"Ning you know perfectly well that even though she is Gan Ning's daughter . . . She is your daughter. A woman. Women in this world aren't often fighters like Zhen Ji, Yue Ying, Zhu Rong, or even me. They make themselves known by their sons and husbands," she said softly.

Her words were of truth. I gritted my teeth in frustration. Even though I knew my daughter had to marry . . . I didn't want to let her go. She was my little Hua Wan. AS I laid in bed that night I couldn't help but flashback in my mind all the memories of little six-year-old Hua Wan.

"Daddy! Daddy! Watch me!" squealed my small daughter.

Hua Wan swung the sheath of my sword around as she spun in a circle, the weight of the cover too heavy for her to pick up. I laughed as the little pig-tailed girl fell over in a heap of cuteness. She sprung back up and ran to me as fast as her dizzy head could direct her.

"Daddy, did you see me?" she asked proudly.

"Yes, I did!" I said picking her up and holding her.

"I did a musou, Daddy! I'm a ferocious Amazon warrior! I'm going to beat up all the icky boys! Mommy said I was gonna when I growed up!" giggled Hua Wan.

"Oh really? Mommy said that? What else did she say?" I asked her.

"I'm not going to tell you!" she said covering her mouth with her little hands.

"Did Mommy tell you not to tell me?" I asked.

She nodded yes and giggled. Always such a giggler!

"Then I'll tickle it out of you!" I yelled and tickled her little belly.

She laughed hysterically and squirmed around squealing for me to stop. I stopped and she kept on laughing. Suddenly she became quiet as we were surrounded by Wei troops with drawn swords and spears.

"Give us the girl!" I heard one of them say.

"I'd rather not, and kill you instead . . .," I threatened.

"You have no choice!" yelled the solider.

I sat Hua Wan down and she clung to my pant leg. Drawling Sea Master, I held out and glared at them.

"Fine, it is your life . . .," I said.

Quickly, they retaliated and swarmed in on me. I blocked their swings and stabs but I was outnumbered to great! They pried Hua Wan from me, taking her away. I was sliced in the back, blood flying everywhere.

"DADDY, DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!" she screamed.

"No! Not her! DON'T TAKE MY LITTLE GIRL!" I bellowed with a plea.

I suddenly awoke in a cold sweat, my heart racing as I sat straight up. It was dark and Diao Wan slept soundly close at my side. She stirred a little at my movement but didn't wake up. I had fallen asleep. It had been all a dream. I got up carefully and walked quietly to Hua Wan's room. I opened her door a bit to make sure she was there. Sound asleep as well . . . and twenty-years-old. I closed the door and started to walk back to bed, but my feet would not move. I felt something wet on my cheek and when I reached up to touch it I realized that it was a tear. A tear? Was Hua Wan going away really that scary to me? Yes. It was. I didn't want to loose my little girl.

End Chapter

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A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it took forever to update I was working on my Revise of my first story. The first section of it has been posted on if you want to check it out lol. My penname on there is: Ra-chan the Sunray


	9. The Dreaded Ring of Wedding Bells

A/N: Wheee! Evilness! talks like Willy Wonka in that scary tunnel where the chicken's head got cut off in the lil riverboat The plot is ever thickening . . . and Wei is ever scheming . . . will the plot ever come together . . . will Ra ever stop talking . . . in this creepy way . . . or will she get on with the story . . . YES! YES SHE WILL!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!

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Hua Wan

Chapter 9

"The Dreaded Ring of Wedding Bells"

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The throne room of Cao Pi was dark and quiet. Quiet except for the pitter-patter of soft slippers walking, someone was awake. Light streamed into the two ceiling high windows and cast their light on the marble floor like spilled ink. A foot entered into the range of the light, and Cao Pi was able to be seen. The young commander stood still and looked out the window, his fox-like eyes gleaming. The pitter-patter again started, as he walked out of the light. A moment later he turned, and walked back again.

"You're going to wear that floor out," a cool voice whispered from the shadows.

"Zhen Ji, go back to bed," the commander snapped.

Lady Zhen, the wife of Cao Pi, stepped out of the shadows. Her eyes gleamed in the light like a cat's. She stared at her husband in a bored, uninterested way.

"Your restlessness is waking up the entire city. Why are you up?" she said, ignoring his command.

"I'm thinking," he said, his pacing annoying Zhen Ji greatly.

"Why don't you just leave it to Sima Yi, honey? Come to bed and sleep for once. I've found you in here three nights in a row. The bags under your eyes are so big, they make it look like someone gave you a black eye," his wife said to him with concern.

"Sima Yi is my strategist, but I still am the commander. I rule Wei, and I will rule China, and I shall get the credit. My father listened too much to that man, and Wei almost disappeared. I will bring it back," he said, stopping his pacing and walking up to Zhen Ji and looking into her round brown eyes. "The alliance with the other kingdoms is building our economy back up with all the foreign trade. There is no hunger in the land, my people are returning to their homes. Wei is growing. It will continue to grow, until it is a land suitable enough for gods. Then, my wife, we will overthrow Shu and Wu. Destroy them. And revenge and triumph will be much sweeter, knowing that they were crushed because they built us up. They tried to befriend the lion, and in turn the lion ate them."

"We rule this land, together," whispered Zhen Ji as she hugged her husband, "but only after you come to bed."

She grabbed him by the ear, and pulled him away. The young emperor yelping in his pain and humiliation as his own wife scolded him loud enough for the world to hear. For two years Wei grew with the trade and help of the two kingdoms of Wu and Shu. Growing and expanding back to its once powerful state, and all the while Cao Pi just sneered. Smirking with the thought of ruling what he believed his. Shu and Wu's friendship was growing. Sun Quan and Liu Bei no longer competed for land and grew used to the fact that the land was divided in three. Only the Wei leader Cao Pi seemed to want to unite the land. There were only two unhappy people in these lands. The young daughter of Gan Ning and the young stable boy Zhou Lin still were heartbroken. Zhou Lin's family had found him a nice young girl to marry. She lived on a farm on the outskirts of the capital of Shu. She was very beautiful and kind, but Zhou Lin only looked at her and saw Hua Wan. In Jiang Yi, Gan Ning was getting used to the fact that his daughter would leave him soon. The wedding of Liu Shin and Hua Wan was only three weeks away, and a dreadful three weeks it was for the soon-to-be-bride. There would be no proper wedding ceremony, her being Liu Shin's second wife. That fact made it worse for Hua Wan.

((Hua Wan's POV))

I stood looking at the beautiful silk gown my mother had laid on my bed a few hours ago. It was made of the most beautiful white silk I had ever seen. I was not a wedding garment, but just for the day I arrived in Shu to meet my husband-to-be. Mother said I looked stunning in white. I didn't want to look stunning for Liu Shin. I wish my husband-to-be was someone else. Even after all this time I could still remember him. We barely knew each other for a week, but both of us had known that we had been meant for each other. I was thrown out of my train of thought as several hand maidens rushed in, followed by the Qiao sisters and –to my surprise- Lady Sun Shang Xiang.

"Hello Hua Wan! Isn't it lovely? Lady Sun came all the way from Shu to help with your new wardrobe!" squeaked Xiao Qiao in excitement.

"New wardrobe?" I asked surprised.

"Yes! You're to be fitted for new clothes. You're becoming a wife and a lady of Shu, you're moving on into a new life! Plus, your clothes now will be hard to carry all the way to Shu. The new clothes will be made by a tailor in Shu," said Da Qiao, "That isn't all. You'll be basically getting new everything! You of course are going to be taking with you items of your own to last you until everything that is being made or ordered has arrived at your new apartments."

"New apartments are being built and adjoined to Liu Shin's quarters. By the way, if they are not finished in time you will stay with Liu Shin," said Shang Xiang.

I sat on the bed and let them talk. Why did everyone but me delight in the arrangements of a wedding? Especially when I was the one that was getting married, and I wasn't too happy about this whole ordeal in the first place. Ever since Dad told me about it the day Sun Quan wrote to Liu Bei, I've been even more depressed than before. The three women must have sensed that I wasn't really thrilled and stepped out quietly. I heard their whispering outside my door. I sat on my bed and fingered the beautiful dress. Amazing chaotic patterns of leaves, birds, and flying fish were embroidered in purple on its surface. I looked out the door frame and I could see Da and Xiao whispering with my mother. Shang Xiang was standing off to the side, staring at me. She bit at her bottom lip as if trying to decide something. She walked back into my room and sat next to me.

"Hua Wan . . . I know that you aren't exactly ecstatic about going to Shu. I wasn't either. It turns out for the better, trust me. I love Liu Bei, and I would of never of fallen for him if my father hadn't arranged it. You'll understand over time . . ." said the Lady Sun.

I nodded, too depressed for words. She gave me a halfhearted smile and got up and left. I sighed and watched the sun set for the rest of the day. That is what my life consists of these days. Complete boredom. And so did the rest of the three weeks. The day finally arrived that I was to travel to Shu, and stay there for the rest of my life. Never -or rarely- to see my family again, I rode away on a light gray mare to my new home. There were several guards and handmaidens riding and walking behind me, and Sun Quan and Lady Sun rode in front. The little mare danced around as she walked along, stirring up some dirt. I smiled as she tossed her head around, shaking her mane. She turned her head around and gave me a look.

"Hum?" I asked the mare.

"Brriiieheheh," the little horse responded.

I patted her neck and nudged her with my heel and she turned back around. I felt very out of place on top of that mare in such a lavish gown. Mainly because it was towards the end of fall and it was freezing outside. I looked up at the cloudy sky. They made the day seem even drearier.

((In Shu, Zhou Lin's POV))

I walked along with my two younger brothers by the castle wall. We had heard about something new being built there and had gone to see what was going on. We hopped over the wall quietly and tried to make it look like we belonged there. I saw a young boy pushing a wheelbarrow of food and pulled him aside.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Taking food to my family. They're helping renovate the apartments of the new princess, sir," said the child.

"Liu Bei's getting a little old for more children?" I asked jokingly.

"Sir, don't you know? Prince Liu Shin is getting married to a woman from Wu. One of their general's daughters. She's the new princess," the boy corrected me.

"Oh really? Which general?" my youngest brother asked.

"I don't know, sir," the boy said, "May I go?"

I smiled and shooed him off. There was now a pain in my gut, like the kind you get when you know something terribly wrong is going to happen.

"What's the matter Lin? You look like someone died," said my brother Zhou Fai.

"Well, Fai, I feel as if someone has, but I know in my head that it's all nonsense. Common, you two head home. It's getting chilly," I said.

"Aren't you coming?" asked Fai.

"No," I said.

"Why not?" ask the youngest, Sying.

"Don't argue with Lin, Sying. Or we'll both pound you," ordered Fai.

The two turned to go over the wall, but stopped as they were cut off by several guards.

"What are you doing?" asked one of the guards as he glared down at my brothers.

"We were just visiting our friends that were working. That's all, sir," I said, stepping in front of Sying and Fai.

"Very well . . ." muttered the guard with an air of uncertainty.

I grabbed the shoulders of my brothers and steered them to the gate. We walked slowly so not to appear that we were in any rush. I kept a tight grip on Sying. He was sweating with nervousness. Always was a chicken. That's when I noticed that the gate was a bad place to be headed. There –ironically as it seemed- stood Liu Bei and several escorts.

"Ah, for the love of Shu why does he have to be over there?" I asked quietly.

"What you mean?" asked Fai.

"Liu Bei, stupid. He might recognize me. Member from two years back?" I said with gritted teeth.

"What are the chances of that, Lin?" Sying pointed out.

"Not very much, but any chance at all still has me worried," I said.

"Lin you look a little different than you did two years back, just walk by casually and nothing bad'll happen," Fai said with confidence.

"Sure, and you're the one who said Wei would never fall!" I sneered teasingly.

"Beg your pardon, but Wei didn't fall, young lad," said a voice, "It was just broken up, and now it's regaining its pieces."

I immediately stopped in my tracts. Forgetting to lower my voice, one of Liu Bei's escorts responded to the taunt aimed at my brother. Sying and Fai both froze but I pushed them forward. The group of men just watched us as we rushed past them and beyond the gate, I took a sharp right and we slumped against the wall, breathing hard.

"That was close . . ." Sying said.

"Yeah . . ." I panted, "Just rest here . . ."

We sat and caught our breath from our scare. We had never expected to be talked to by an official. Exactly how I felt the first time I entered the palace grounds with Hua Wan. Meeting Liu Bei about gave me a heart attack.

"When is Lady Hua Wan to arrive?" I heard someone on the other side of the wall say.

My heart gave a jolt. My chest felt like it was about to explode. Hua Wan? Coming here? I had to of heard wrong . . .

"I-in severa-a-l hours, y-your majesty," stuttered someone else.

"Good, I don't want my son to have to wait any longer for his beautiful young bride," the first man I guessed to be Liu Bei said.

"Young? Hardly! The daughter of Gan Ning is already twenty-two!" scoffed a very hoarse sounding voice.

Hua Wan then was coming! I had to see her . . . I had to. Then I remembered her words . . . she had said we never could see each other again. Best to forget about her and what I heard. I gathered up my brothers and we left for home.

I was at work when I heard the crowds. Over time I had been promoted, and was now the owner of the stable. Fai appeared at the door of the stable.

"Lin! There are bells ringing! I heard that one of Liu Bei's son's is getting married. His foreign bride is riding through the streets! Common!" he shouted.

Giving in, I put down a sack of feed and ran to catch up with him. Fai stood on a stack of hay as he strained to see the procession. I climbed up beside him and looked up and down the street. We didn't have to wait long. We first saw the crowd being parted by red-clad soldiers. Then I saw the Lady Sun riding beside her brother, ruler of Wu. The lady and her brother were impressive but they couldn't match to the beauty that followed them. There she was . . . Hua Wan. She guided her horse expertly through the crowded and screaming streets. She was a work of art in a white gown of silk and her hair pulled back on one side. Her hair had been curled and it danced and bounced violently as her little mare pranced with excitement. That's when I heard the bells.

BONG!!!

She looked around at the crowd. I begged to the gods that she wouldn't spot me.

BONG!!!

"Please . . ." I begged.

BONG!!!

She looked my way in seemingly slow motion. Her gorgeous eyes looked into mine. Hua Wan's lips parted in a gasp.

BONG!!!

I could feel the sadness in her heart . . . she did not want this day to happen.

BONG!!!

Pain filled my heart as my chest pounded and my fists clenched tight.

BONG!!!

She looked away, suddenly looking ashamed, scared, and painful. Like her heart had been wrenched from her breast.

BONG!!!

With that last ring . . . she vanished out of sight. A tear ran down my cheek and I jumped of the hay stack quickly. Running into the stable, I locked myself into a stall and let the tears come . . . and they only came out faster and faster as my sobs grew louder and each tear burned like fire down my face.

She was gone . . . forever.

End Chapter

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A/N: I know, I know. Heartbreak and more heartbreak! WO AN NI!!!


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